Missio
“Let the Gospel be the measure and guide of life’s decisions and plans! Then you will be missionaries in all that you do and say, and wherever you work and live you will be signs of God’s love...”
For a long time I hated my name. I would dread the drawn out process on the first day of each school year. First, my new teacher would try to figure out when she looked over my name on the list if she had one more boy or one more girl in the class.
This was evident because when I raised my hand to say I was present, they’d look back down at their attendance sheet, confused and ashamed at their assumption that, based on my name, I should be a boy. Next, my new teacher would brave the daunting task of actually pronouncing my name: “Rrr…”, “RO- KI-O”---after a few attempts at helping them say it correctly, we’d both give up.
If you ask my parents why they chose my name, they don’t have a great reason. They simply liked the name and thought “Rocio Esther” flowed nicely in Spanish so they went with it. I could never understand why my parents didn’t just give me a name that could be pronounced easily, like Ashley or Jennifer—anything but Rocio. Now, however, I couldn’t be more grateful.
A few years ago, a period in my life began where I knew very deeply that God was speaking my name to me. I once heard a quote that will stay with me for the rest of my life: “God gives back to us the gift of ourselves”. That’s what He was doing with me. He was bringing me on this journey of giving me back to myself. This gift-giving of God began with me receiving my name as a gift. I understood that my name and my mission are very closely intertwined.
One day during this season of my life, I stopped to have my normal chat with Abi on my way to work. He ran the café stand at the Newark Broad Street Station. We hit it off from the start and so every day I would check in on him and we’d catch each other up on life before I ran for my next train.
This one day in particular I had been praying about what the Lord wanted to tell me through my name. I arrived to speak with Abi and he asked me, “What does your name mean?” I began the usual explanation: “Rocio means ‘dew’ in Spanish---you know like, dew of the morning, not ‘do’ like do something but…”
He cut me off and proceeded to tell me that in his country dew represents consolation. He explained to me that when you see the rain, you see it coming with force and power. The dew, on the other hand, comes in the quiet hours of the morning, in silence, and in gentleness. So for his people, dew meant consolation and gentleness.
At this point, God used Abi as his mouthpiece. Abi said to me with authority, “Rocio, never let anyone leave your presence without receiving from you that which your name means”. WHOA! I knew that the Lord was answering the prayer I made that morning. I understood my mission: to bring consolation to those I meet, especially those who are suffering.
Currently in Ethiopia where I am living, we are experiencing a drought. It’s been almost a year of this lack of water until this past month, when we were blessed with two downpours. The people are begging for rain. In a drought, any little amount of dew drops is a huge consolation because it gives a bit of water to the crops while they await the big rains. A little morning dew is a gift.
Reflecting on this image, I am reminded of what I should be doing here. I want to be “dew” for others. I want to share with others God’s mercy and consolation. I cannot get rid of the suffering. I can’t bring relief to the land. However, the little I can do, let me do. The bit of joy I can bring, let me bring it.
Everyone has a mission. I don’t just mean what you do on a week trip to Guatemala or at the soup kitchen on Saturday mornings. But I mean that mission that is so deep in you, that only you can give to this world--through your art, your writing, your own personal form of expression and engagement of the world around you. Your mission is in you. Your mission is you. It’s becoming who you are, as they say, and handing that over to others freely so that God may be known and loved more fully because you lived out your mission.
Look out for those moments where God reveals to you who you are and your mission in this life. Be open to those moments of grace and mercy, like my conversation with Abi. I pray you meet your own prophet that lets you hear God speaking out your name and revealing your missio.
Grace and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.
photo credit: Nati Perez (Santiago, D.R.)