Focus on where, not who

My social work training taught me never ask Why questions as they are too closed.  Now in a paper on the plight of refugees, I read that the best focus for bettering their lot is gained by asking Where and not Who questions.  This focus refers to refugees' building up their resources where they are and not put the focus on the other to provide for them as these others may prove unable or unreliable.

It struck me to apply this same principle to me and where I have been lately in my Bangkok.  In my last entry, I maybe voiced a prophetic question, when I wrote - So where to now?

Getting around in my Bangkok

What has stayed with me over the last few weeks has been a powerful line I read from Schillebeeckx writing on Church some 25 years ago.  It reads that the Church is impelled to follow the vulnerable, even helpless, rule of God.  Wow!  This is not naming simply following God, but God's rule which applies in our physical reality.  Making it more personal, I am impelled to follow the vulnerable, even helpless, rule of God in my Bangkok, my physical reality.  So where to now for me?

Am I being derailed?  The point of the insight for the refugees is that they look to where they are now and look neither to where they could or want to be nor to some patron, even one that may be a powerful institution.  This tells me it is about standing where I am and building up my resources where I am.  What are the resources available where I am now?  In my Bangkok?     

The two greatest that nourish me in life and mission here are adventure and opportunity.  There is adventure in this place of surprises, never knowing what will happen next.  As I always say - here, my life can turn right around in 24 hours.  Then there is opportunity.  Here, I am given all sorts of tasks and responsibilities in many different areas.  You could say that I punch above my weight or to put it another way - Here I have major roles of responsibility in Caritas, while back in Australia, Caritas would never even consider me.  So my Bangkok is a place where I find life and nourishment.

Having written this piece, I came across an article on pilgrimage which struck me that nothing happens by accident for the writer made the very point that place is sacred for it is where we find God, ourselves and the other.  Reading his reflection on the theological importance of place in our tradition, I realized how meaningful is my sharing this week which started out of nowhere.  Nothing happens by accident; everything has a purpose.