Well I have been back for a couple of days now. I think I have caught up on most of my sleep – I awoke this morning at 5:00am which is a good sign. I have been running, trying to catch up with studies, work, and family, and it wasn’t until now that I have asked myself – what now?
What do I do now that I have had this amazing experience? The easiest and obvious answer is to return to my work and look forward to the next trip in two years (if we go again). We would tweak things, move things around, but that would be the obvious action.
Yet the poor will continue to struggle, the country will continue to struggle, and I don’t think I need to say anything about Haiti. Shouldn’t we continue to be actively involved in the mission we are engaged in?
On the other hand, how much can we do? We can get more and more involved, give more and more of our resources and energy, and still not make much of a difference. And in the meantime, there are needs at our doorstep that would not be met.
Yesterday I was with the Rhode Island Council of Churches Faith and Order commission discussing the church’s involvement with the poor. I suggested an adaptation of Avery Dulles’ Models of the Church to recognize that different churches have different chrisms when it comes to engagement. Dulles suggests the models of Institution, Mystical Body, Sacrament, Herald, and Servant. I’m not going to get into them more – maybe in another post. The take-away is that we all have different gifts as individuals and as churches. Some of us will be institutionally involved, some will speak truth to power, and some will serve in any way possible. With this in mind, I ask myself what is the chrisms of First Baptist, EG when it comes to reaching out to those in need? If we name that and embrace it, then we will likely have something to focus on.
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