She is busy…

Very busy.

She lives her life in a hurry, but it’s okay.

Because she’s in a hurry to serve God.

Right now, there’s a meeting to lead.

A hundred or more people wait for her…

Wait for her instructions on their tasks for the day.

She looks at her watch.

She’s almost late.

Hurrying through the bookstore to the meeting room…

She catches sight of someone she doesn’t know.

He wears an unusual shirt.

“I shouldn’t stop,” she thinks. “I shouldn’t stop.”

But she stops.

“Tell me, she says with a smile, “about your shirt.”

He pauses.

Looks down at the books in his hands.

“Well,” He says, looking back up, “it’s a shirt for a cancer support group.”

“My mother. This will be her last Christmas.”

“I’m buying books for us to share.”

He talks on.

She listens…

And by just listening, she shares God’s love with a total stranger.

She could have missed this conversation… this chance to share God’s love.

She could have thought she was sacrificing it on the on the altar of service to God.

Because the people waiting for her are church volunteers…

Waiting to hear their assignments for Christmas.

She had a task to perform…

And a mission to accomplish.

Tasks and mission.

It’s so easy to confuse one with the other…

To mistake tasks made urgent by the clock…

With mission made meaningful by the timeless God.

 Which will we choose?

Which will we sacrifice?

Will we choose to join God in the spiritual mission and adventure to which He invites us all?

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’… ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  There is no commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12:30-31

Will we sacrifice our own spiritual striving…

Will we quiet the clamor within our souls…

So that we may know God himself?

…“Be still, and know that I am God; Psalm 46:10