On Accepting Invitations: Our mission slowly moves forward drawn by the Spirit to who knows where

Bob:That man is richest whose pleasures are simplest...

I find Bob's post very moving. Click over and read his entire post and then link to his earlier post. -gw

...when I got home... Amy was talking to our Baha'i neighbor on the phone. She and her son are planning a pilgrimage to the Baha'i holy land to visit the shrines in Haifa, Israel. She was telling us about it at last year's block party. There's like a 5-year waiting list to go on pilgrimage and their number was finally coming up.

Anyways, one of her friends just returned from a pilgrimage and would be sharing her experience and photos last night. She invited us to go.

Now, I'm not particularly interested in the Baha'i faith but I am interested in my neighbor. In understanding her, learning about what she believes, and more than anything else, trying to show we are interested in her as a person. Basically, we decided to go to the presentation because we wanted to foster our relationship with her.

The presentation was entirely too long (for me) but it was interesting enough to help me understand some of the basics of her belief. We met some of her friends and got reacquainted with others we'd already met.

I say all that to say this. This isn't church. I cannot be. It can only be mission. Our participation is not to merge the two religions or find common ground. Our participation is for the purpose of understanding an individual, our neighbor, accepting the invitations she extends in sharing her life, and simply trying to love her. It is a slow process but last night was a 3 hour investment in our relationship. We look forward to sharing her anticipation as she embarks on a pilgrimage of her own. She has already asked us to pray for her trip to go smoothly (there are some complications that could cause her no to go at this point).

All in all, the evening went well. Our mission slowly moves forward drawn by the Spirit to who knows where.

Bob, "Accepting Invitations," Bob: That man is richest whose pleasures are simplest...

{Re-posted with permission}