How many times have you sat around the kitchen table or in your local cafe setting the world to rights? The conversation often focuses on our own perspective and what we see as needing to be changed. We are often critical of the present leadership of our country, of our churches, of our banks and other institutions. We notice with an eye on how we would do things differently and what we would focus our energies on. The main difficulty is that if we were in a position of leadership would things be any different. There is a difference between discussing who should be in power and actually exercising that power for the good of others.
This is probably why Jesus draws people's attention to the little child who has a natural openness and curiosity about the world. They have grown to trust those around them and are able to teach them how to experience wonder in the creation and in the normal events of every day. They what to discover more and be present in the moment. They are entranced by each encounter and moved to learn more about our world and what holds it all together. They talk about a leadership from below and not above. They want people to enthralled by every aspect of what is happening in their lives and the impact it is having on them. They want to have life and have it to the full.
Yet too often we become busy with many things and the "important" issues of the day. We want to make an impact which will profoundly change the world and the way we live. Yet when James notice the internal wars that we have within ourselves we start to notice how our focus can be drawn too easily to being powerful, spectacular and successful rather than faithful, hopeful and loving in our interactions with others. The call is not to just see the world as we want it to be but rather to view it as God desires. It calls for our prayer to listen to the heartbeat of God which seeks our to be in sync.
This can often be challenging because people do not want a life which is focused around a profound calling but rather that the world is shaped in their own image and likeness rather than God's. As a people of prayer, we are called to discover what leads to peace and enables people to be open to the gifts of the spirit. God wants us to be open to the Spirit which leads us into a closer unity of purpose which seeks a leadership which emerges in our local communities and on our own streets. Then when we sit around the kitchen table or at a cafe our talk is not mere words but rather a recognition that in our conversations and in our lives we change the world. A leadership which enlivens and emboldens us to live in union with God and in union with each other.
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