I just read Faith Without Borders: Doing Justice in a Dangerous World, by a good friend Don Mosley, 2005 winner of the Pacem in Terris Award, who has worked with Jimmy Carter, Millard Fuller in founding Habitat for Humanity, refugees from dozens of countries, and some daring work in the middle East and North Korea.  His stories are incredible and the book is a compelling page-turner, but what I liked most about the book was his perspective on action.  Throughout the book he lives out a belief that “People act their way into new ways of thinking far more often than they think their way into new ways of acting.”

Don Mosley’s life has been an exercise in acting his way into new ways of thinking, not only for himself, but for others he touches along the journey.  He and a group of courageous Christians formed a Christian community over 30 years ago that welcomes refugees to the country with language training and support as they adjust to the new country.  Several years ago he and others found ways to bypass the American embargo to carry desperately needed medical supplies into Iraq.  Using cultural expertise gained as a Peace Corp supervisor for many years in South Korea, he started a recent initiative to bring Millard Fuller’s housing work into North Korea.  His life is a list of amazing encounters, being in the right place at the right time and being willing to grab the opportunities that others would have let slip by.  Behind the scenes are many others, some of them also friends I have met at the Christian community where Don lives, doing the same work with even less recognition but the same bold faith “behind borders.”

Are you too busy waiting to have your ways of thinking all straightened out before you think you’ll be ready to act?  Perhaps now’s your time to take a step, to act where you can, and in acting let your worldview get shaped in new ways.