Life is mission. Business is mission. Career is mission. Mission is a good word. It suggests vision that is supported by good planning. Define your mission clearly. State its purpose briefly. Write the rules for implementing it. That will be your business plan. That makes you mission ready.

The Gospel is about mission. St. Mark has a way of zeroing in on the basics. He's very brief and to the point. Let's get the picture. Jesus sets up a "pilot test" project. He wants to test how well his brand new on-the-job trainees can take instructions and make them work. In this Gospel we see him giving them a lesson on some very basic matters. I will use three key words to highlight his work plan: Excess, Time and Respond. In the simplest terms, the basics are: avoid Excesses, use Time wisely, and Respond, don't react, to each new challenge.

I suggest that these basics will work for you too, any time and any place: at work, in the classroom, on a hike or vacation or fishing trip. They will work when you are at lunch with your best client. And they will work when you are on your most promising date. Here's what Jesus does. He divides the Twelve into visitation teams of two's. He sends them down the highways, byways, alleys and lanes. Actually, this is a short journey in a familiar environment. It is intended as a kind of "appetizer" for longer and more arduous journeys they will take later. But listen how direct and to the point his instruction is...

1. Avoid Excesses
2. Use Time Wisely
3. Respond, Don't React, to Each New Challenge.

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