I had it all well intended! Los Angeles in 2021 and San Francisco 2022. That's the way it would be. I'd do my annual commitment of inner city mission work in both of those communities in alternating years. At least that is what I'd decided in the fall of 2020. LA went great in 2021! I traveled to, worked in and still support that city's Dream Center up until now. I love the west coast and desire to always be a part of it in the most tangible ways I can.
Contacting a ministry in San Francisco in 2020 I had built some familiarity about the opportunity. It fit my past experiences and 'helping' task profile well. Yet, something was off. It felt like the people in San Francisco kept putting me off. Every other request for information would get ignored. At times all I would get was a patronizing: "you're on our radar, John." Something didn't jell right. In November of last year, I let a ministry in Seattle into my plans. It was a place that fit my 'west coast' paradigm, like the other two cities.
Reaching out to the Seattle opportunity was starkly different than the San Francisco one. Not only were e-mails responded to and questions answered, I even received a call from the folks in Seattle on a Friday evening two weeks prior to Christmas. They were calling to encourage me to come out. Telling me in the slightest of ways: YOU ARE IMPORTANT!
Reader, whether it is a job offer, a romantic liaison/ relationship, educational endeavor or even travel/leisure always chose the opportunity that presents the people 'who want you the most.' In other words, they tell you that YOU ARE IMPORTANT! Slightly, painfully you will find it may not be what you have been envisioning for an innate amount of time. Slightly, disappointingly; it may not have been your first choice. I have always loved Athens, GA. and it's eclectic, hippy culture and fine music scene. I have wanted to immerse myself into that communities 'practice' since college by taking enrichment, adult learning courses at the University of Georgia. The University of Tennessee an hour and a half north of Athens in Knoxville, TN offered similar, personalized growth courses. These were about the only two institutions who had the full set of what I was looking for, respectively. Cool place to learn for a weekend vs. a place that had 'off the wall' coursework, I needed to make my like better, no one else in America had. At this point I was more in line with going with the opportunity that satisfied the 'groovy' experience paradigm. So, the UGA courses where slightly my preference, where I could visit Athens. Instead of the back-in-forth I'd usually do in my mind I left the dilemma to fate's call of sincerity make the decision for me. I started doing this when I wasn't writing down options, closing my eyes and picking one from a pile and placing it in a fire pit, causing the final option on paper that had not been burned, to be my selected choice. I knew one would TELL ME I WAS MORE IMPORTANT than the other. I e-mailed both universities. UT was friendly, personable and helpful. UGA totally ignored my two e-mails. It is safe to say I'm now registered for three adult classes for 3 amazing 1 to 4 day sessions with UT throughout 2022. Sure, it stung a little that UGA behaved as they did. I'd had Athens on my mind since I visited in the summer of 1999. Just as it stung a bit for the San Francisco endeavor to go like it did. Reader, it fortified my conviction that God, fate gave me the opportunities He meant for me to have all along. I'm certain that with the Seattle and University of Tennessee examples, I will be encapsulated by two new dynamics that will allow me to flourish better than my former preferences. Aligning yourself with opportunities that demonstrate the most affection to you, seems logical-yet it is not easy. It can be tough for us as human to overcome our long held goals, dreams, affections & personal preferences. Yet, when all things are almost equal-always choose the opportunity that calls your name the loudest with it's desire. Do this, because we live in a world that is becoming more callous, selfish, crass and untrustworthy each and every day. Decent people who value you for you and show kindness are becoming a rare and precious commodity.
By the time you are fully grasping the directive of this letter, I'll be on a plane out of Atlanta on my way to Seattle. to start working in a city for a week that had me on it's dance card, even as I had another. I've got a feeling we are going to fall in love pretty quickly, regardless that the forecast states HARD RAIN the week I'm there (positively Seattle). In my bag will probably be one of my two, recently purchased University of Tennessee Volunteer t-shirts. There is a funny thing that happens when you choose the opportunity that wants you the most. That being, you loose your infatuation with your slightly more desired preference.
See you all when I make it back home to 'Bama by April Fool's Day!
J.B.
