As You Wish

The Princess Bride is on my list of top ten funniest movies. There is one line in the film that is at the heart of the story. Quite surprisingly, this three-word sentence spoken at the beginning of the film and again at the end is at the center of your story and mine. In fact, Jesus himself uses a version of this line and it is the greatest prayer he ever prayed. If we committed ourselves to praying this prayer during our trip to Goma and throughout our lives we would never be the same.

Gary Moon describes the scene in the Princess Bride where this key sentence is first spoken. “As the movie opens, we see the heroine going about chores on a farm. Her name is Buttercup. Soon we meet a young man who works on the farm and answers to the name Farm Boy. Whenever Buttercup asks Farm Boy to do something for her, he always replies, “As you wish.” That’s all he ever says to her. As they grow into their hormones, Buttercup seems to be developing a crush on Farm Boy. One day as he is about to leave the room, she asks him to fetch her a pitcher, which is within easy reach for her. Farm Boy walks over, then stares into her eyes, lifts the pitcher, and whispers, “As you wish.” In that moment, returning his gaze, Buttercup realizes that every time he has said, “As you wish,” he was really saying, “I love you.”

For 2000 years those who have the greatest spiritual sensitivity have been trying to teach us that it is this one line, spoken to God, that opens our lives to remarkable experiences with God. There is no greater expression of love than to say to God, “As you wish.” In John 14 Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love.” When our prayer is, “As you wish,” we are saying to God, “I love you.” Brother Lawrence writes, “It is good for us to remember that our sole occupation in life is to please God.”

To be perfectly honest, there are moments when it is easy to factor God into my decision making process and pray, “What do you want me to do, Lord?” But there are times when it doesn’t even enter my mind to consider what Jesus would have me do. There are moments when I genuinely don’t know what God wants me to do, even though I’ve sought God’s wisdom. And then there are times, more often than I really want to admit, that I know exactly what God wants me to do and I simply refuse to do it.

What I’m discovering is that as I learn to say, “As you wish”, I open myself to the transforming, life-changing, empowering work of God’s Spirit in my life who then invites me deeper into the work he is already doing in the world. May this three word response be on our hearts and minds as we seek to be Christ’s servants to one another and to the people of Eastern Congo. I am excited for the journey ahead!

Tim