My Life is My Ministry

One of my new Lenten disciplines is an hour of what I'm calling "Spirit time" each day -- mini-Sabbaths that may look a little different every day, just as my weekly Sabbath days do.

Today I'm reading a book titled _SubMerge_ by John Hayes, general director of InnerChange, about incarnational ministry among the poor. I partly chose it because I need to return it to Rebecca before she leaves the country in a month or so (!), but it also speaks to my soul every time I have a chance to read a bit. I'll probably need to buy my own copy. (Bunnytrail temptation...is it available on Kindle? Should I *get* a Kindle? Resisting...resisting...) :)

Here's part of what I read today. The bolded portions jumped out at me most:

"Your ministry is not your life; your life should be your ministry. Its a tiny change in word order, but there's a gigantic difference -- one that will lead you to burnout and misery if you confuse the two.

"When ministry is your life, you will give when you have nothing to give, work when you should be resting, neglect that which should be your greatest priority, and ultimately loathe the very people you are called to love. In short, when ministry is your life, you have no life to offer to others and nothing but ministry to invite others into.

"On the other hand, when your life is your ministry, all of life becomes a sacrament before God: your work and your rest, your eating and sleeping, your generosity and your neediness, your care for your body and the environment, your trivial pastimes and your greatest accomplishments. When all of your life is what you offer as your ministry, then nothing is wasted. In short, when your life is what you offer to others as ministry, what you offer is multifacetted and rich with meaning."

This is now part of my Lenten contemplation -- I have always wanted, as most Christians do, for "all my life" to be given to God and His Kingdom. We sing it in many of our songs, we pray it, we talk about it...but we secretly sense that it's impossible.

What if I stop trying to give my life TO the Kingdom (leaving me with no life at all) and instead live my life IN the Kingdom? Just typing that sentence made my heart smile and my mind flash on scenes from every adventure story I've ever read that's set in a glorious kingdom. Living my life IN the Kingdom means I have something truly beautiful to invite others into.