When Yahyā said this, there came a Letter from the House of Abathur: "Yahyā, take a wife and found a family, and see that thou dost not let this world come to an end. On the night of Monday and on the night of Tuesday go to thy first bedding. On the night of Wednesday and on the night of Thursday devote thyself to thy hallowed praying. On the night of Friday and on the night of Saturday go to, thy first bedding. On the night of Sunday and (? yea) on the night of the Day devote thyself to thy hallowed praying. On Sunday, take three and leave three, take three and leave three. See that thou dost not let the world come to an end." Thereon they fashioned for Yahyā a wife out of thee, thou Region of the Faithful.

John's task is nothing less than to not let this world come to an end. Yet he is encouraged to take a wife and live a life. Might these also be acts of world-preserving?

Not all of us are called to dramatic self-sacrifice. But each of us serve as co-creators of the world. Each of us have a role in healing a fractured world.

For most of us these roles will be fulfilled in what is called ordinary life: as the children of parents, siblings, cousins, neighbors, students, teachers, co-workers, employers, customers, merchants, and part of a wide web of relationships.

Within these relationships to what do we devote ourselves? What proportion is given to praying, to playing, to caring, and to daring to walk a pathway that suddenly opens?

Each encounter with another beckons with sacramental potential. We will not always fulfill the potential. But how might we live to improve the odds of doing so?