Livingry not Weaponry

On Saturday, I was going for my walk in the park, when a guy, I never knew, came up to me, telling me how wonderful it was to see me again.   Who was this guy?  That was my only thought.  He was telling me I had always been kind to him, whenever we met, which had not been for a long time.  I just kept thinking who was he, for I had no idea.  What to do? 

I could have just ignored him and walked right away, but that would be unkind and just not decent behaviour.  So I happily entertained him.  After all, he was friendly and had a creative approach to encountering people.  However, I was wondering where he was going with his conversation.  Not assuming this guy's purpose, I finally saw his endgame, when he talked about losing a job offer because he had no address.  I gave him some advice and thought where next?   

At the right time, I could have just kindly finished the conversation, wished him well and continued my walk.  That would have been a decent response to a fellow human being, but I couldn't finish that way, as I was ruled by these are tough times for so many and you can't ignore people in their need.  So I purposely took an extra step, with offering him money for food, but not for the rent as he was intimating.  Thus we parted on a friendly note and he can think me once again as being kind.

I share this natural encounter in my Bangkok, for it serves as a great reflection on life and mission.  It is solely for this reason that I share. 

Our Christian faith does take us that one step beyond being kind, decent human beings.  It is good to be kind and decent.  They are values that stand on their own.  However, as Christians, our faith leads us to be kind for the deeper, altruistic motive, originating in God's love for each of us.  God's love takes us to that deeper place in our hearts and world, where we are challenged to act wholly for the good of the other.  In line with this intrinsic, life philosophy, our human encounters are spiritual by nature and are so much more than we can ever imagine.   

Truth remains that I am no one's salvation.  Mission is not about my saving the other.  All of us have only one saviour, Jesus, who calls us to his mission.  This happens because of our mutual friendship which he has instigated.  With this in mind, we ever strive to be authentic Christians, people of integrity in our encounter with humanity and creation.  

So we enter into God's life-giving vision, always and importantly remembering that no one is perfect.  We all fail.  I fail.  That is okay.  The way is with Jesus as our companion, thus keeping our focus on our goal in faith, ever getting back up and keeping on the way as Jesus' disciples.  This has real repercussions in everyday life and happens within simple, daily reality, even during a walk in the park.