In the
movie The Last Samurai – think
of Katsumoto as King Arthur and his Samurai as Knights of the Round Table -- before
the final battle with the Japanese Emperor’s army, Katsumoto (Ken Watanabe)
asks Algren (Tom Cruise) a very important question:
Katsumoto:
Do you believe a man can change his destiny?
Captain
Algren: I believe a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed to him.
What do you do when you don’t know
what your calling or destiny is? You do what you can, in the present.
Not knowing what your calling is
yet is not a call to do nothing.
As I wrote in my last post, while
all of us have a peculiar calling, a unique reason for our being here, there is
one calling that we have in common: We are all called to seek justice, love
kindness, and to walk humbly with God. (Micah 6.8)
In seeking justice, we maintain an
awareness of and concern for the fundamental rights and needs of others.
Broadly speaking, doing justly to others requires that we treat them with the
dignity owed to fellow creatures of God’s. Each individual you encounter has
been made in the image of God. (This includes Republicans and Democrats, Hindus
and Atheists, Rich and Poor, Dog-lovers and Cat-lovers.) Combine this reality
with the words of Christ, that when you have done something to or for “the
least of these,” you have done something to or for Christ, and you will have a good
place to start regarding seeking justice for all.
When we unpack the Hebrew word for
“kindness,” we find words like mercy, benevolence, and faithfulness. Each of us
is called to being kind and merciful to others. Every encounter comes with
opportunities for demonstrating the fact that this particular individual has
worth before God. Show him kindness. Show her mercy. Show them charity. In
doing so you are showing them something of God’s heart.
We are all also called to walking
humbly with God. Actually, Micah says to walk humbly with your God. Humility is rooted in your relationship with the Almighty.
He is God; you are not. He is in charge; you are not. He is not simply, “God.”
He is your God. Your life and all of
its situations and events belong to Him and are to be lived before, under, and
through Him. Whatever your calling turns out to be, it will be heard from
within the context of this relationship.
Every worthy quest has within it the
quest to serve God wherever you are on your journey. Two of the ways we are all
called to serve Him is by seeking justice and being kind to others. Any Merlin
worth his salt will tell you that if you aren’t serving God today, if you
aren’t following after the call to do what you know to do in this moment, then
you aren’t ready to discover your destiny.
Copyright, Monte E Wilson, 2013
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