God knows me and calls me by my name.…
God has created me to do Him some definite service;
He has committed some work to me
which He has not committed to another.
I have my mission—I never may know it in this life,
but I shall be told it in the next.
Somehow I am necessary for His purposes…
I have a part in this great work;
I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection
between persons.
He has not created me for naught. I shall do good,
I shall do His work;
I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth
in my own place, while not intending it,
if I do but keep His commandments
and serve Him in my calling.
Therefore I will trust Him.
Whatever, wherever I am,
I can never be thrown away.
If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him;
In perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him;
If I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him.
My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be
necessary causes of some great end,
which is quite beyond us.
He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life,
He may shorten it;
He knows what He is about.
He may take away my friends,
He may throw me among strangers,
He may make me feel desolate,
make my spirits sink, hide the future from me—
still He knows what He is about.…
Let me be Thy blind instrument. I ask not to see—
I ask not to know—I ask simply to be used.
John Henry Newman
from Meditations and Devotions,
"Meditations on Christian Doctrine,"
"Hope in God—Creator", March 7, 1848
In my reflection and prayer regarding my installment of "From the Choir Room" this week, I found myself rather stumped, looking around for some ideas. Thoughts came upon me; thoughts like "everything has already been said" and "what could I possibly add" would come floating into my mind. Then, I thought of John Henry Newman, knowing that I would likely find inspiration through his words. A quick search led me to find his mission statement above.
To me, this mission statement is comforting, and I think much of it applies to our world today: the confusion of life's purpose, humanity's necessary interdependence, our need for faith and trust in God, and the knowledge that God is always with us, no matter how we are at any given moment.
We all have our mission in God's service, and, as pointed out above, it's okay to not know what that mission might be. Right now, it feels like the mission with the most potential is kindness. With so much division and upheaval in our world today, a simple act of kindness to a stranger (or someone whose views might be different) could change that person and strengthen our "link in [the] chain."
His statements about adversity in life serving God are particularly poignant to me. So many parallels can be drawn in these few sentences to what we are feeling right now. What would it be like if we accepted that our illness, perplexity, sorrow, depression, loneliness, frustration, anxiety, etc. serves God? Knowing that God is always with us, in this particular way, is so comforting.
I will say unto the LORD, Thou art my hope, and my stronghold; * my God, in him will I trust.
Ps 91:2
John Missel
Baritone in CSMSG Choir
