its a mad mission

Three years ago, I was sitting at the feet of one Marvin Olasky, editor of World Magazine. The youngest of a class of 12 (which included 2 World staff writers, 2 future World staff writers, a Washington Times reporter, etc.), I was completely outbrained and outexperienced. But good ole Marv, his aloofness has a way of putting you at ease. Just when I was on the cusp of mental implosion, he would pop in a CD and tell us about the artist. On this particular morning it was Patty Griffin, and the song was “Mad Mission.” Marvin declared it the World theme song, in light of having half the staff of any other major newsweekly and still being good in spite of it. The third stanza went a-like so:

Sometimes you find yourself
flying low at night
Flying blind and looking for
Any sign of light
You’re cold and scared, and all alone
You’d do anything just to make it home

It’s a mad mission
Under difficult conditions
not everybody makes it
To the loving cup
It’s a mad mission
But I got the ambition
Mad, mad mission
sign me up

Well, my last name was in it, and I was tired of people asking if a certain movie’s soundtrack was my theme song. So I adopted the chorus of this one (Tom Cruise weirds me out anyway…but I digress). As I trek to Brooklyn to learn at Williamsburg Church and work in NY publishing, it seems a bit of a mad mission. And in human terms, it probably is. After all, I’m more comfortable around pygmy goats than subway systems. And it’s not that I’ve “got the ambition,” as the song says. I’d be happy staying at home and sewing curtains. But I have a God who is worth all the discomfort and bewilderment that this new phase will bring. Because He first loved me, and wants to love more people through me, New Yorkers not excluded. He is passionate about His glory, and in His presence, I can’t help but be the same. So sign me up.