Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying,
“Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”
And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”
(Isaiah 6:8 NIV)
A mission can be as simple as an assigned task for the day. Or as complex as a mission to Mars. Or as dangerous as a military strike force attempting to subdue an enemy.
A more common association with the word “mission” is religious in nature. And the root word for mission comes from the Latin verb, mittere, which means to send. Lest you think I’m a genius, I just gleaned all this information from the handy dictionary on the Merriam-Webster website (www.m-w.com).
As a dictionary aficionado, I sheepishly admit that I am using the online versions more often than my compact dictionary or the faithful red Webster’s, I purchased years ago. I have dreamed of owning the complete Oxford English Dictionary (OED), which may be accessed as a hard copy at a local library. And our library has an online version, with free access for card holders.
Both refer to the etymology of a word, that is, its origin and usage. At www.m-w.com you find the word origin, the date of the first known use, the word used in a sentence , rhyming words and even synonyms and antonyms at the end of each entry.
Both refer to the etymology of a word, that is, its origin and usage. At www.m-w.com you find the word origin, the date of the first known use, the word used in a sentence , rhyming words and even synonyms and antonyms at the end of each entry.
Until recently, I never paid much attention to the first known use date. When I was compiling my seven desires list, I started noticing a similarity. All of the words were first known to be used between the 14thand 16th centuries, with “mission” being the youngest of my words, first used in 1530. I know some of you are saying: “So what?” But when I find a commonality, my mind wonders if there is a connection.
Once I saw this pattern, I wondered what historical context they might have in common. I started thinking about St. Ignatius, whom I discovered last summer. He lived from 1491-1556. His spiritual journey culminated in a profession of religious vows with six other men on August 15, 1534, thus forming the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits, which literally means “Jesus followers.” His history coincides with the dates of some of my words.
I don’t think it is any coincidence that the word “mission” was just starting to be used around the same time that God called St. Ignatius to his vocation. And I am certain that day, when I was brainstorming about my desires for 2013 that God was smiling, knowing I would make the connection.
My mission is to write words in whatever context God gives me. This little adventure in the dictionary confirmed to me that I should study the Spiritual Exercises developed by St. Ignatius. It probably won’t surprise anyone that The Ignatian Adventure by Kevin O’Brien, SJ, caught my attention, when I was looking for additional texts to inform my study.
As the year unfolds, I will bring along my dictionary and these texts to see what develops. It’s so like God to keep me on the Advent{ures} of following Him through words.
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