A Reflection David C. James, Ph.D I've seen, or re-seen, three movies lately that had a stunning impact upon me. First, 'The Mission': This is a story of conflict between the Colonists and the Natives and between Jeremy Irons who plays the religious superior and Robert DiNero who plays a solider turned Jesuit. In perhaps the most stunning line, the superior opts for non-violence and says, "If the world has no place for love, thenI don't want to live in it." The next movie I watched was 'Romero: The story of the life and conversion of Archbishop Oscar Romero of El Salvador'. This movie shows the circumstances of his life and ministry, which force him to speak out against both the government and wealthy elite of his country. In so doing he is killed for his effort at prophetic love. Finally, I saw 'Gandhi': The saga of a man who, through the practice of nonviolence, effected a political change in India from British rulership to Democracy. These three men had one thing in common: VISION. They had a burning desire for a vision of life that opened their minds and their hearts to live for others. These men are not alone. Countless women -- like Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who is renowned for her work with the poor and outcast in India; Dorothy Day, who founded the Catholic Worker Movement which still ministers to the poorest in our inner cities, and Catherine McCauley the Founder of the Sisters of Mercy, who are legendary among Catholic religious orders for their devotion to God's people -- embody this vision. Again, the common thread is Vision. All these people had a vision that drove them to give the finest efforts of their lives so that others might live. So Lent is perhaps the most fitting time for us to ask ourselves the question, "What is my life's vision?" In asking this question, I'm trying to get us to move beyond our petty visions like, "Where should I go shopping today?" or "What car gets me the best mileage? In other words, is there something you believe in so strongly that you will dedicate everything you have to see it come to pass. Social commentators tell us that more people are suffering from addictions, compulsions and neuroses today than ever before. We have people committing suicide in record numbers. Might it be because we, as a people, have no vision of life? Are we so concerned with shampoo and golf scores and gas mileage that our souls are becoming desperate? Lent is that period where God invites us to take a fresh look at our lives. To see how the choices thatwe make give us the lives that we live. Because choices reveal our priorities. Jesus said it clearly when he taught that we will discover our heart when we see where we put our treasure... in other words, in the ways that we choose to spend our lives. Lent is the time of the Vision Quest. It was for Jesus. He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the very same things that we face on an intentionally spiritual path every day. The Temptation to turn Stones into Bread -- Power: The ability to make things happen, no matter what the consequence. The lust for power causes incalculable heartbreak to the poor and wounded of this world. The Temptation to Jump off the Temple -- Prestige: Everyone would have known that he was something special. Being someone special has become a curse in our age. Jesus refused the premature glory that this spectacle would have brought. Instead he chose simply to trust his Father's plan for him. Finally, the Temptation to Take Control of the World by Worshiping Satan -- Possessions: Madison Ave. and self-help gurus trumpet "You can have it all!" Our quest for unlimited acquisitions deadens our souls and robs both the poor and the earth of the necessary resources for life. We, too, face Satan in those accusing thoughts and tapes, in the habit patterns of our sinful thinking. These are the same temptations that Jesus faced. If we convince ourselves that we can do it ourselves -- that we don't need God and each other -- then he's won. Jesus returned from his Vision Quest with a single message, one that he repeated in hundreds of different ways and a million different times: "The Kingdom of God is at Hand! Believe the Gospel." This Good News has two twin towers that overshadow the world in which we live. The first: Believe the good news that God absolutely loves you. That no amount of pious practice, or sacrifice will make you any more acceptable or loveable. The Second: Believe that this same Good News invites us to make the necessary sacrifice of our egos and our own petty agendas so that others might have a share in the life of God. This Sacred Vision can be a bit threatening when we see that it can cost us our very lives. Perhaps not a literal martyrdom, but certainly the death of all the illusions and sins that keep us captive now. Yet, if we can come through this Lent with the same Sacred Vision that Jesus had, then perhaps we will find something worth believing in, something worth passing on, something that heals us, inspires us and forces us to give our very best to the world around us. The Reverend Dr David James, currently vicar of St. Mark's Episcopal Church in Tracy, California, has been an Associate Professor of Psychology and Spirituality at Trinity College of Graduate Studies in Orange, California. He is the author of "What Are They Saying About Masculine Spirituality?" by Paulist Press.