http://3minutetheologian.org.uk/blog/2008/06/09/a-r-movement-4/ Words about God and life for the Attention Deficit generation Mon, 14 May 2012 15:08:46 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://3minutetheologian.org.uk/blog/2008/06/09/a-r-movement-4/comment-page-1/#comment-1257 Mark F. Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:59:54 +0000 http://3minutetheologian.org.uk/blog/?p=143#comment-1257 When I was a youngster, I was inspired and awed by missionaries Henry Martyn and Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky. I wanted to be like them. They had drive, faith, unselfish devotion, supernatural energy, hope, boundless charity, and committed focus (qualities I am lacking). They literally emptied themselves, poured themselves out for the love of God. I gripe about fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I cannot fathom ??????? as lifestyle. And I can't imagine learning Mandarin or Farsi to be a better witness for Christ. As I get older, I admire my patron St. Willibrord, an English Benedictine who was --in spite of many setbacks and failures-- a very persistent minister of reconciliation to the Frisian rabble from whom I am descended. St. Willibrord, Alcuin says, miraculously turned water to beer for thirsty monks. The annual St. Willibrord procession, at Echternach (seemingly mimicking the progress and regression of Willibrord's missionary work), is danced three steps forward, two steps back. This slowly advancing, forward-backward dance (more than the self-emptying of Martyn and Schereschewsky) is the best metaphor of my spiritual life. Thanks for sharing these stories of Anglican mission endeavors. You made me think with gratitude of my own connection to our missionaries. When I was a youngster, I was inspired and awed by missionaries Henry Martyn and Samuel Isaac Joseph Schereschewsky. I wanted to be like them. They had drive, faith, unselfish devotion, supernatural energy, hope, boundless charity, and committed focus (qualities I am lacking). They literally emptied themselves, poured themselves out for the love of God. I gripe about fasting on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday. I cannot fathom ??????? as lifestyle. And I can’t imagine learning Mandarin or Farsi to be a better witness for Christ. As I get older, I admire my patron St. Willibrord, an English Benedictine who was –in spite of many setbacks and failures– a very persistent minister of reconciliation to the Frisian rabble from whom I am descended. St. Willibrord, Alcuin says, miraculously turned water to beer for thirsty monks. The annual St. Willibrord procession, at Echternach (seemingly mimicking the progress and regression of Willibrord’s missionary work), is danced three steps forward, two steps back. This slowly advancing, forward-backward dance (more than the self-emptying of Martyn and Schereschewsky) is the best metaphor of my spiritual life. Thanks for sharing these stories of Anglican mission endeavors. You made me think with gratitude of my own connection to our missionaries.

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