The readings at Easter always throws us back to a time when the Church was new, and reflecting on the accounts in the Acts of the Apostles, we imagine ourselves in the place of the followers (or apostles!), wondering if we too, could stand up to the challenges of being early adopters of the faith.
In mapping the biblical world to ours, we imagine the journey of John and Peter to Samaria to ‘check out’ or ‘audit’ the stories of mass conversions by Philip, and then to confirm or ‘accredit’ the followers with the gift of the Holy Spirit
In reading Peter’s guidance to the followers, we imagine a period of time when we are called to reason and explain why the followers of Christ would do things differently and will defend their position, not with aggression, but with gentleness and respect, indeed, serenity and acceptance even under great duress.
Inner peace and serenity in our modern world is a much sought after state-of-mind. What works?
Mission – with a worthy goal in mind, and a belief in the task, we are better able to carry-out the work with honesty and a true sense of vocation and commitment. The bestselling Christian writer, Bob Buford writes in Half Time about working for Success in the first half of our lives but switching to Significance in the second half.
Arrival – both US Presidents Reagan and Eisenhower were known to be great leaders with a self-depreciating outlook – by their reckoning, if one has arrived and is already the boss, does it still need to be all about “you”? President Eisenhower famously has a plaque on his desk that read “There’s no limit to what a man can achieve, if he doesn’t care who gets the credit”. When we stop chasing for ourselves and start working for others, it’s a great source of peace and serenity.
Talent & Leadership – this is perhaps toughest to reconcile with serenity. The path to a leader’s rostrum is sewn with followers who turned around and left. The only reason to be a leader is to accept that it’s a worthy mission, and if endowed with the gift of talents, it is time to step up to the position. A reluctant leader grits his teeth in outer serenity and inner turmoil and gets on with the task. But even a reluctant leader must turn around and embrace his or her work – otherwise, how will the followers feel?
Stewardship – if we truly believe that the mission is bigger than the man or woman, then the idea that we perform to the best of our abilities, with the talents vested in us till our time is up, must be the most reassuring feeling. Our mission, and God’s mission, continues while we move on with a light heart and a lilt pitch – to the next task!
Serenity and the Spirit – the source of that inner serenity is none other than what Jesus promises in the gift of the Holy Spirit in this Sunday’s gospel, , the Spirit of truth, hidden or embedded in the self.
From Serenity and the Spirit, a reflection first contributed to The Apostle, a newsletter of the Catholic Church of Saints Peter and Paul, Singapore. Sixth Sunday of Easter 29 May 2011.