Three figures in the readings this week protest they are unworthy. Isaiah: “I am a man of unclean lips.” Saint Paul: “I am the least of the apostles.” Saint Peter: “Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man.” Nonetheless they are chosen to witness God’s glory and advance God’s mission. Whoever you are, however unworthy you may feel, God has something important for you to do. What is it?

Young Amanda is concerned. She’s a year past graduation with a degree in social work. She was a fine student in school and is one of the rare recent graduates who landed a job weeks after finishing her college program. She’s earning an adequate salary and is doing what she trained to do and wants to do. In other words, she’s a success, right?

OUR COLLECTIVE and individual histories are filled with people who have acquired helpful, oftentimes life-saving knowledge, then turned around and freely passed it along to anyone who wanted it. Consider the Native Americans who helped the Puritans survive their first hard winter here or the pioneers who explored the American wilderness and returned with maps they had made, saving those who followed time and trouble.

Unafraid of the great mission we have to spread the kingdom of God, we call on the power of God to listen to our prayers.

"It is written.” The readings this week say: God does it. Isaiah got to see God—and live—and received his call directly from the heavenly court. Jesus himself appeared to the last person to whom you would have expected: his ugly ex-persecutor Paul. Peter, along with the other two of the “Big Three” apostles, accepted their mission straight from Christ. Despite their protestations of inadequacy, these three are actually quite privileged and—as it turned out—ready to follow God completely.

Ever feel overwhelmed in the face of a monumental experience? Many of us have been there, including the prophet Isaiah.

Myths and creeds are heroic struggles to comprehend the truth in the world. –Ansel Adams