Tuesday, January 20, 2009

On Coming Alive ...

Yesterday, this was the quote of the day.
Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.
Howard Thurman
A commenter mentioned:
True...but unhelpful to some of us. The thing that makes me come alive won't support my family...
I would like to gently encourage us to look past the immediacy of jobs. Remember, he didn't say ... earn a living by coming alive, did he? Let us take me as an example ...

In my case it is this blog. And also the podcast.

Also my Catholic women's book club. What fun and I get so much good from it.

Not to mention the Beyond Cana retreat that Tom and I help present twice yearly. Those are not only inspirational but the monthly formation meetings for the team help keep our marriage solidly anchored in reality ... and grace ... and the friendship and love of our friends.

Those things not only benefit me ... make me come alive, as it were ... but hopefully also help another person or two. And except for the hotel for the Beyond Cana retreat time, they are largely free or very inexpensive, except for the time that I invest. Any one activity like those above are enough to help make us come alive.

For Tom an example is meeting with the guys he went through CRHP with.

For one daughter it is swing dancing (free lessons and minimal cost on dance nights). For another it is delving deep into movies.

A friend last night spoke of coming alive when she became a 3rd order lay Dominican. You should have seen her face light up. It was beautiful. (My goodness gracious, I see that she went home and began writing about it right here!)

At The Deacon's Bench that quote is being applied to serving the poor, but I also see it as something that the men who stepped up and became deacons have done. They don't make a living becoming deacons for the most part but they are fulfilling their highest potential ... and I think they would tell you that it was another step on the way to coming alive.

We can't always see an immediate benefit, just as I didn't when my husband encouraged me to begin a blog. But guess what? We actually have gotten work from people who saw Happy Catholic. So you never can tell how God is going to use that pursuit of what he built into you ... that coming alive ... to your benefit either.

Don't fall into the trap of simply applying that quote to practicalities. Break your thinking out ... come alive.

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