TERESITA TANSECO-CRUZ
I recently stumbled upon some video clips of the original “Mission: Impossible” TV series (ca. 1960’s) courtesy of YouTube. How eagerly I had watched all those MI episodes, season after season! The precision, speed, teamwork, and expertise with which the MI Team vanquished evildoers were pretty impressive. And how about those tough signature instructions that kicked off every assignment?
“Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is…” Should you or any member of your Impossible Missions Force ( IMF) be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions.”This tape will self-destruct in 5 seconds…” Those no-nonsense directives made me think of my own mission, running through all the episodes and seasons of my life. Surely, one cannot spot any TV material there, just an abundance of my spotty performance. And yet…what a vital mission! T
God leads the whole operation, allowing me the choice of accepting my assignment or not. Accepting it requires total commitment but undertaken with trust and constancy, the endeavor brings interior freedom and enduring, transcendent fulfillment. Christ is our way, our “Road Map” in this mission. It values patience over breath-choking speed. It calls for deliberation and discernment rather than clockwork precision…forgiving, instead of exacting. I worry not about expertise but try to practice – serving, giving, and living God’s message through and with others, in His brand of teamwork defined, I believe, by compassionate camaraderie.
Christ’s instructions – LOVE ONE ANOTHER AS I HAVE LOVED YOU, do not self-destruct in 5 seconds because they are at the essence of every assignment and therefore presented to me every day, anywhere I am. Sometimes I listen. Sometimes, not so much. And if I consistently reject them, guess who will disastrously self-destruct?
Now comes the fantastic part of this mission. If I get caught in the vicious web of the enemy, God does not disavow any knowledge of me or my actions. On the contrary, He looks for me to save me, to bring me back to His Team! He has a powerful rescuing “device” called mercy. I rely totally on it to weaken the enemy’s chance of dragging me down the precipice. For example, the enemy has a deadly version of the IMF: the IMMF (“I, Me, Myself Force”). This dangerous menace with seducing disguises (power, vanity, control, are such familiar ones) that can deliver me swiftly to the pernicious pit. Only with God’s mercy can the trickery be dismantled, the IMMF promises exposed to be utterly hollow, and my trip to the dark pit averted. I call on Him every moment.
I honor my sacred assignment with a humble and grateful heart, mind, and spirit. I pray to live all my days in God’s Company, a permanent member of His MI Team. No, not Mission Impossible, but Mission Indispensable…Mission Incomparable.