To raise a child. It also takes a village to raise an adult. The project never really comes to a close.

And since no man is an island, since we all depend on one another, I cannot work out God’s will in my own life unless I also consciously help other men to work out His will in theirs. His will, then, is our sanctification, our transformation in Christ, our deeper and fuller integration with other men. And this integration results not in the absorption and disappearance of our own personality, but in its affirmation and its perfection.

Thomas Merton, No Man Is An Island

Christmas is an easy time to recognize gifts. They come wrapped in festive paper. Sometimes extra special bows. Often we’re sitting in a room with other people we love, watching one another open the presents that we so thoughtfully chose. 

When the gifts are so obvious, our responses come automatically: “Thank you!” (Even if it’s another ugly sweater, or a cooking pot we don’t really need). But really, regardless of the gifts, most of the time we mean the “Thank you.” Because someone thought to give us something. 

John the Baptists, that is. Here’s what Matthew says of John:

This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’ ”

Matthew 3:3

That is, trust in someone doesn’t mean that you sit back and do nothing, but that you do the next right thing for you to do. Trust is active engagement, not passive waiting.

Trusting your doctor means then taking the prescription given to you, following all the instructions as closely as possible. 

Trusting the company that built your car means getting into it and driving your kids to school and yourself to work. And then back home again. 

We are communicative creatures. We always have something we need to say. Something we need someone else to hear. That last part being perhaps the most important part to consider when it comes to how we choose communicate. How we communicate affects what is received.

Get near to Jesus. 

Sorry if that sounds like some toothless religious platitude. It’s not. It’s got jaws like a gator that won’t let go.

The reason is that the antidote to Death is Life. The remedy for Decay is Resurrection. The solution isn’t to stir up more gusto for life, to watch an inspiring Ted Talk, or to read a self-help book on motivation—as genuinely good and helpful as they may be. No, there’s only one thing to do that is likely to have any affect at all: get near to Jesus.

They are the context. Our fellow missionaries. Our community are our comrades. Mission is empowered and sustained by relationships. 

Approach #1: Get a clear picture in your mind, draw a blueprint, make a plan. Then try to gather all the Lego pieces you know you need. Dig through the noisy buckets until you find all the exact right pieces. Frantically search in the couch cushions for the pieces you know you must have, but can’t find. Don’t settle. Maintain control and vision.

But they often lead to even better questions.

Bigger questions deeper questions. Truer questions. More significant questions. The “questions behind the questions”, as Ruth Haley Barton puts it.

A space where profound transformation happens. The deeper the pain, the deeper the change. The wider the wound, the broader the landscape of life will never look the same. To bear witness to such seismic shifts as they happen in real time is frighteningly holy ground.