Australian Spirituality-Walkabout II

Caroline mentioned today that one of her favorite things about traveling is meeting up with old friends in new places. We were lucky enough to be in New York City this week, and today was perhaps the most amazing day as we shared breakfast with our Columbian padre, Omar, in Jersey City. It’s been almost a year since we first met Omar (actually since I met caroline too, seeing as they were part of the same group of Mosaic Interns!) Rekindling the friendship in a new setting was heaps of fun. Then we skipped under the Hudson River for lunch in Central Park with our Hawaiian pal, Neil Nakamoto. What a treat to connect with two awesome people in such amazing places.

I have to confess, that while I enjoy meeting old friends in new places, I have something I love even more. I have a personal theory that new cities, countries, villages are so much fun when they’re being discovered at the same time as new people are being discovered. Some of my richest adventures have been with brand new friends in brand new settings. Living in a foreign nation for a while has convinced me that friendship is at the heart of what it means to be human; to live with others and journey makes life rich and fulfilling, even if it does bring it’s ups and downs. Not just physical journey, but the emotional journeys we travel, the development and learning journey we embark on. Again, I think we have something to learn about journey and friendship from our old mate Abraham.

As I’ve tried to understand the scriptures, I’ve come across this concept that intruiges and frustrates me; Mission in the Old Testament. It’s the idea that God is somehow working overtly and subversively through the people and places of the ancient Israel to connect with all of humanity. It kind of sounds ironic when you read various parts; at times it even seems sick to imagine that all the wars, slaughters, plunders and conquests of the times were actually about mission. It will have to rest with someone smarter than me to explain how a loving God, on a mission to woo humanity back to him, could work through a divinely sanctioned crusade. However, what is unmistakable to me is how the theme of humanity resounds through the story of Abraham like an echo in a cave.

Whenever Abraham is called to step out, to journey to a new place, the assumption underlying his adventures is not having a good time, taking a break for whatever it was that he did or recording some happy snaps; it was about blessing humanity. Yes, humanity. No nation, culture, race, sex or tribe is excluded; he is to be a blessing to the nations. He is the mouthpiece of the God who speaks. His adventures are wrapped around a mission, and that mission goes beyond him, beyond his people and culture and biases; it connects with those who could not possibly be more unlike him.

I wonder, if in our instinctive need to go walkabout, we also do well to have a sense of mission, a desire to be a blessing not a curse. Maybe even the simplest of journeys are laced with the potential of incredible realities, as we look past ourselves and step into the lives of others. Perhaps the question is not where am I going, but who am I walking with?