Tag: Purpose

Remembering at Passover and Easter

Passover is a divinely commanded remembrance ritual that celebrates the liberation from Egypt of the enslaved descendants of Jacob/Israel.
   The Bible describes the many, failed attempts to convince the Pharaoh to grant them freedom. Ten plagues or divine actions were meant to force his hand. He resisted nine, but with the tenth, the death of every firstborn son, he relented and allowed the Hebrews to leave Egypt.
   Through Moses and Aaron, God had instructed the Hebrew people what to do to safeguard their firstborn sons during this final, dreadful, and decisive plague.
   They had been told to sacrifice a lamb, to smear its blood on the doorposts and lintel of their dwellings as a sign to the angel of death to pass over them, and to make a meal of the sacrificed lamb.
   For many centuries the key element of the Passover ritual was an actual sacrificial offering, in the Jerusalem temple, of a lamb, followed by a sacrificial meal. But, with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple, it was no longer possible to have the sacrifice.
   Gradually, the meal, the remembrance ritual changed. The remembrance included that of the sacrificial lamb itself, and the meal, no longer actually sacrificial, became more symbolic, a reminder of the ancient salvific acts of God.
   The Passover ritual meal (the Seder) also includes various other symbols that remind the participants of details of what they are remembering of the past with thanksgiving and hope.
   Jesus’s death is tied to Passover; his last supper meal with his disciples before his death is usually identified as a Passover ritual—and anticipatory to the great sacrifice of Jesus’ life (as the lamb of God).
   For Christians, this ultimate sacrifice of Jesus is at the heart of their version (the Mass) of the ancient remembrance ritual.

   Just as on the evening of the tenth plague a lamb was sacrificed and its blood became salvific, so the first followers of Jesus viewed his death on the cross.
   Just as, in the Seder, the sparing of the firstborn of the Hebrews and their liberation is symbolically celebrated, so too, in the Mass, our being spared and liberated by the death of Jesus is remembered and symbolically celebrated.
   Jesus himself gave the remembrance symbols to his followers: the broken bread, shared by all at the table, this was his body, broken for their and our salvation, and the cup of wine, shared by all at table, this was his blood, shed for their and our salvation.
   “Do this in remembrance of me.” he said.
   This Christian remembrance ritual, rooted in the Passover and associated with the Resurrection, began to be enacted every Lord’s Day (Sunday), not just once a year at Passover (Easter) time. It even became a daily ritual for many.
   Because of centuries of theologizing and analyzing of the specifics of the ritual and the exact meaning of the Lord’s words, as well as great religious divisions about the matter, a great emphasis was placed on transubstantiation and real presence.
   An unintended consequence was less attention to the original significance of the remembrance ritual’s principal symbolic actions, the breaking of the bread and the sharing of the wine.
   Liturgical reforms in the last century were not so much refinements of complex ceremonials, elaborate vesture, and special architectural arrangements as a challenge to us to rebalance our understanding of this core remembrance ritual of our lives.

16 April 2023
(Adopted from a
21 March 2021 original)

How’s Your Day?

Your every day has its beginning, when you wake up, and its end, when you fall asleep. So it is with life itself—its awakening is birth, and its falling asleep is death.
   So, in that sense, how’s your day? How’s it going? What stage are you at? What’s the weather like? Are you comfortable? Are you full of pep and energy? Are you exhausted, worn out, or discouraged. Are you so tired you want to go back to bed?
   Were life but one day, what time is it for you now? Daybreak? Early morning? Mid-day? Late afternoon? Evening? Night fall?
   You can’t answer all these questions, nor can I, since we don’t know what the day has in store for us nor how long it will last.
   Speaking for myself, I think it’s probably later than Evening, probably Night fall. I’m slowing down, in need of rest, and things don’t seem so very clear anymore as the day darkens.
   As I get older, many a night I’m fighting against falling sleep, less attentive to what I’m watching on television or reading. Strange behavior, no? Why not embrace the chance to rest and relax instead of resisting; why not trust God’s love and providence?
   It’s not that I’m afraid that my day is over—even though my behavior may seem to give the contrary impression. And, I really have no clear idea whether my day is done or whether the Lord has some night work for me.
   Life’s like that. Even slowing down, you never know how much more is still in store for you nor when the day will end.
   Anyway, as Shakespeare put it, we strut and fret our hour upon the stage, until we are heard no more.
   Truly, we each have a part to play in the plan of God, although we may hardly ever think of it or realize it. It’s only were we to see the whole work complete that we could see where and how we fit into the great design that includes all things and all of us.

   Longevity should not be our goal, and it is no guarantee of our successful development or contribution.
   Jesus was crucified in the late morning, barely mid-day, of his life—yet even so, he lived long enough to change the world forever.
   If we seek to be counted among his good followers and disciples our life may be rich, complex, and long or as brief as that of Jesus or even shorter.
   No matter! Length of time is not the main point. Your day may be relatively brief, but that’s all the service asked of you. And, even if the day seems long, hard, and maybe fruitless, so be it.
   The “well-done, good and faithful” servant, may have a short span of life or long. It matters not, only that “Thy will be done,”
   So, how’s your day? It’s a tough question to answer, for the day is still not over.
   So far, so good?
   Muddled and difficult to decide?
   Confused and confusing?
   Clear or clouded over?
   Satisfying or frustrating?
   Wonderful, beyond understanding?
   Too long or too short?
   You know, we don’t know and can’t know the final answers to these questions. We can’t accurately assess our lives while we are so busy living them. Our greatest achievement may have slipped by relatively unnoticed—or its day has not yet come.
   Not being God has serious disadvantages and limitations—but if we at least purr in his presence or wag our tail for joy while seeking to follow him wherever he leads us, we might just possibly, unlikely and difficult though it may seem, have a great day!


26 March 2023

Ready, Set, Go!

During my five years in the major seminary, we did a lot of prayerful singing—especially Gregorian chant in Latin.
   For three of my seminary summer vacations I worked in the St. Vincent de Paul Society’s camp where five times each summer busloads of inner-city kids came for a twelve-day vacation.
   They would hear some religious songs, not chant and easy to understand. One that still sticks in my memory was a spiritual; it has different versions, but here’s some of what I remember:
   Did the good book say that Cain killed Abel? Yes, good Lord!
   Hit him on the head with a leg of the table! Yes, good Lord!
   Daniel in the lion’s den said unto those colored men,
   Get your long white robe and starry crown and be ready when the great day comes.
   Oh, Lord, I’m ready, indeed I’m ready.
   Oh, good Lord, I’ll be ready when the great day comes!
   Forget the leg of the table, but don’t forget to be ready when the great day comes!
   And, don’t overlook the part about being dressed in a long white robe and starry crown. It means to be spiritually clean and spotless with your mind and heart fixed on the promised great and beautiful things yet beyond our present experience.
   It’s sort of like Latin chant: beautiful thoughts in a foreign (symbolic) language that need translation to be fully understood!
   The great day is the great paradox of our faith. The great day is when we definitively totally surrender our mind and heart and life to the loving God who made us and guided us all our life long.
   Like the team ready to run onto the field responding to their coach’s last-minute charge, I’m ready, indeed I’m ready.

   A whole lifetime may seem to be a bit much for preparation and practice for the great day, but compared to eternity it’s but a drop in the bucket.
   The ultimate purpose of our lives isn’t to endlessly drill and practice until we have no strength left to continue. Our ultimate purpose is to get ready and set to go on to that fullness of life and love that we were taught about, yearned for, and sacrificed for.
   When the moment comes, without hesitation, we charge onto the field of eternity, fired up in faith and responding in our hearts as we often did in our lives: Oh, Lord, I’m ready, indeed I’m ready.
   Don’t let any of this scare you! It may be that you’re so involved and occupied by your daily duties, tasks, and demands that all this may seem imaginative and remote.
   It’s a certitude that this present stage of the life of each one of us has an ending, but it’s also a certitude in faith that another, better stage of life awaits us.
   We’ve heard tales about it, predictions and promises and imaginative descriptions about it, but we haven’t played in the great game yet; we’ve only been practicing as we were coached and taught.
   We were coached and taught well, maybe not perfectly, but well enough. No need to fear the field if you’re ready and set to go.
   And, of course, the God who made you, loved you, and guided you all life-long is the one and the same God who calls each of us to a fullness of life beyond our imaging and experience.
   So, don’t forget or fear to get your long white robe and starry crown and be ready when the great day comes.



19 February 2023

Neronic Behavior

“Fiddling while Rome burns” is an old expression meaning to be absorbed in lesser matters while vital and more important matters are ignored and unaddressed.
   It’s associated with the Roman emperor Nero, no hero nor exemplary figure in our received history. Curiously, even the word “fiddling” by itself can also be used with a somewhat similar meaning.
   Going back to Nero, how could the powerful head of the great Roman Empire have been so indifferent to the plight of the people of his burning capitol, so absorbed in his personal pleasures? You want to know how? It’s easy; look in the mirror!
   How many times have we behaved somewhat like Nero? How often have we let ourselves be absorbed in our secondary matters, good though they may be, while leaving far more important and significant matters unattended to, matters involving the life and well-being of others who were trusting in our concern, aid, and care?
   That’s Nero-like behavior!
   May God forgive us for our selfishness and indifference to the plight of others—for our fundamentally flawed behaviors, for our selfish, self-centered concerns, for our frequent deafness, dumbness, and blindness.
   Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35)
   This wasn’t a mere suggestion by Jesus to his disciples for their personal growth and maturation, nor a guideline for a more responsible lifestyle.
   Jesus was speaking in the persona of Moses when he said “I give you a new commandment.”
   And, the commandments given by Moses were not his desires nor plans but the explicit will of God for his people.

   “Love one another” is far more than a counsel to avoid “fiddling.” It is a direct, unavoidable demand and obligation. It requires our total commitment and even sacrifice.
   It is the overriding, incontestable command of our Maker. It is the absolutely necessary guideline for each and every day of our lives!
   Nero wasn’t a fire-fighter. He didn’t take any serious personal risks. Ultimately he was indifferent to the plight of so many others. He opted for his self-absorbing distraction of music-making, ignoring the life-threatening plight of his people. His behavior clearly contradicted the command of the Creator, as we understand it.
   How Neronic are we, you and I?
   I think there is a little bit of Nero in each of our lives, a temptation to ignore the plight of others who look to us for concern, for guidance, for help, for care.
   “This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
   You know, as good and as pious as you or I may be or think we may be, we may be seriously mistaken.
   The early followers of Jesus chose death over ignoring his command. For them, there was no alternate behavior to “have love for one another.”
   Every time we fail to obey Jesus’s new commandment we give counter-witness to his mandate, to the will of God.
   That means that every time we fail to assist and support another as best we can we give counter-witness to this same mandate of Jesus, to the will of God.
   Oh, Lord, burn all my violins if they have become more to me than your will. Help me always to love others as you have loved me!




12 February 2023

Actor vs. Spectator

Is it something like Do or Don’t?
   I mean, some people’s lives are busy with living, loving, helping, working, making, or building and others are busy at waiting, watching, judging, applauding, or criticizing.
   Alas, busy doesn’t necessarily mean good. There are busy people whose lives are all about lying, cheating, hurting, harming, or taking advantage of others.
   There are some people who tend to be imaginative, creative, or unconventional, but lead, while others may be inclined to react, praise, or criticize, but follow.
   Some people say all the right things, but don’t necessarily do all the right things. Vice-versa, other people don’t say much or even seem to get it wrong when they do, but are always doing good, helping others, or trying to do what’s right.
   Similarly, there are people highly active and very busy at doing selfish things even harmful to others, while saying all the right things and professing values that they do not put into practice.
   Which is better? To be totally a spectator of life or to be an actor, a player? And, what of bad actors and bad players—are they better than spectators of life or worse?
   In many ways, our culture is filled with “spectator sports”. When we listen to or watch the “news” on radio or television, we are overwhelmed with scattered facts and an abundance of opinion and judgements.
   What are we, sometimes, but no more than spectators of other spectators?
   We may argue about the merits of political, religious, or other popular leaders and their proposals and deeds, but we rarely move from “spectator” to “actor”—that is, we rarely do much more that argue about the relative merits of what other people do!
   Did you ever wonder how could people once cheer to see wild animals tear apart innocent people in the colosseum? Be careful, we have our modern equivalents!

   Better to have fought and lost than not to have fought at all! Better to have tried and failed than not to have tried at all! Better to have lived and died than not to have lived at all! But, of course, it’s far better to win, succeed, and live.
   It’s curious, but actually no one is a player or even a spectator all by themselves. Player usually presumes a team, others who assist at the moment of play or before it and whose experience is valuable. Spectators, too, are affected and at times guided by others. Think of how many times you were guided by another’s “Look at that!”
   In a way, all this is not so very different from a warning and counsel Jesus gave to his followers and disciples:
   “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” (Mathew 7:21)
   You may decide to follow Jesus, “no turning back, no turning back,” but it’s not merely a matter of words, of saying, affirming, or advising the “right” things—it’s a matter of doing them.
   Actions speak louder than words!
   Are you afraid to make a choice and implement it because you’re not sure you’ve gotten it just right, because you’re afraid of making a mistake?
   Welcome to the human race! We’re all like that! They may call you a “perfectionist,” but that’s not what human beings are, even though they may aspire to be one.
   Only by the grace and help of God can we approach and do our best to do the right thing, the good thing, the holy thing—and with God’s help we may get close to getting it right. By ourselves, alone, no way!


4 December 2022

Persevering

It’s thing you ought to do! It’s a thing that’s hard to do! It’s a thing you have to do! It’s a thing that you’re sometimes criticized for doing! What is it, really?
   Let’s start with some dictionary definitions:
   Persevere – to continue in some effort, course of action, etc. in spite of difficulty, opposition, etc.; to be steadfast in purpose; to persist.
   Does this mean to be stubborn?
   Stubborn – 1. refusing to yield, obey, or comply; resisting doggedly or unreasonably; resolute or obstinate.  2. done or carried out in an obstinate or doggedly persistent manner.  3. hard to handle, treat, or deal with; intractable.
   But, in a good sense it could almost mean:
   Heroic – 1. of or characterized by persons of godlike strength and courage.  2. like or characteristic of a hero/heroine or his/her deeds; strong, brave, noble, powerful, etc.  3. of or about a hero/heroine and his/her deeds; epic.  4. Exalted, eloquent; high-flown.  5. daring and risky, but used as a last resort.
   Okay, it’s clear that perseverance is a more or less neutral word; it can refer to behaviors, right or wrong, ranging on a scale from stubborn to heroic.
   Perseverance can be a matter of:
   – Persistence – in a favorable sense, implying steadfast perseverance; in an unfavorable sense, annoyingly stubborn continuance.
   – Tenacity and Pertinacity – imply firm adherence to some purpose, action, belief, etc., tenacity in a favorable sense, and pertinacity, with the unfavorable connotation of annoying obstinacy.
   (There is a related Latin root word, severus, that also has a range of meanings, favorable and unfavorable:
   Grave, serious, strict, rigid, stern, austere.)

   Persevering requires knowledge, determination, courage, strength, endurance, and sacrifice.
   Persevering in a good sense also involves maturity, life experience, generosity, insight, humility, and faith!
   One way of describing a saint is a person who perseveres in doing the will of God until life’s end.
   The will of God includes things like:
   – “You shall love the Lord, your God, with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”
   – I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.
   – Do to others as you would have them do to you.
   – Then Peter approaching asked him, “Lord, if my brother sins against me, how often must I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus answered, “I say to you, not seven times but seventy-seven times.
   – Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it.
   This kind of perseverance is paradoxical.
   From one point of view, it describes a loser, someone stubborn, inflexible, imprudent, spineless, and naïve.
   From another, more meaningful, point of view, it describes a winner, someone courageous, generous, strong, and loving.
   The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
   Persevere!


9 October 2022

A Loving Heart

I want a loving heart more than sacrifice, knowledge of my ways more than holocausts.
   (An antiphon from The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman rite)

   In chapter 11-12 of his Gospel, Matthew tells how Jesus is challenged in Jerusalem by the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders (11:27). They sent some Pharisees and Herodians to ensnare him in his speech (12:13). Some Sadducees, also joined in (12:18) . . .
   One of the scribes, when he came forward and heard them disputing and saw how well he had answered them, asked him, “Which is the first of all the commandments?” Jesus replied, “The first is this: ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is Lord alone! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
   The scribe said to him, “Well said, teacher. You are right in saying, ‘He is One and there is no other than he.’ And ‘to love him with all your heart, with all your understanding, with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself’ is worth more than all burnt offerings and sacrifices.”
   And when Jesus saw that he answered with understanding, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (12:28-34)
   This scribe really understood the radical teaching of Jesus. The Judaism of that time gave great importance to Temple sacrifices of all kinds including burnt offerings.
   For devout people, animal and vegetable sacrificial offerings in the Temple and rules about clean and unclean food were the most important of their religious observances.

   Jesus, when asked which was the first of all the commandments of God, said there is nothing more important than love—love of God and love of neighbor.
   The scribe who commended him clearly understood how startling Jesus’s response was—Jesus placed love ahead of all the other commandments, all the Temple sacrifices, and all the other religious observances and practices of his day.
   Do we realize the radical nature of Jesus’s teaching? Do we understand the overriding importance of love in the scheme of things? Remember, at his last supper, Jesus made this his legacy commandment:
   I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another. (John 13:34)
   As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
   I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
   You are my friends if you do what I command you. (John 15:9-14)
   This is the highest priority for a follower of Jesus—more important than any other commandment, rule, custom, practice, religious devotion, preference, or teaching.
   Better to miss Mass on Sunday than not love! Better to live together without marriage than not love! Better to be unorthodox than not love!
   I want a loving heart more than sacrifice . . . more than holocausts.


11 September 2022

Imperfection

If someone accused you of being imperfect, would you consider it to be an insult and be offended?
   On the other hand, if someone called you perfect, would you consider it to be a sort of complement and appreciate it?
   Both words come from the Latin verb perficio, especially its past participle form perfectus meaning brought to an end, completed, finished.
   They’re not judgmental words. It doesn’t mean, e.g., that you won, but simply that you persevered to the end.
   Forgive me, then, for stating the obvious: you’re an imperfect person, not a perfect one—after all, you’re not dead yet!
   Sometimes “imperfect” is taken to mean relating to or characterized by defects or weaknesses, but that may be unfair. Imperfect basically means that it’s not over yet, it’s a work in progress.
   We all are meant to be perfectionists—we all are meant to persevere, despite the challenges and setbacks, and to continue to run life’s race until it is completed, for better or for worse.
   If you were selected to race in the Olympics, that selection itself would be a great honor and recognition whether or not you later got a special medal for outstanding performance.
   No matter what, nor where, nor when, each of us is imperfect—and we continue to be imperfect every day of our life until it’s over; that’s when we become perfect.
   The judgement of our lives is not comparative; we’re not competing in a contest—we’re just striving to make it through, as best we can, to the end.
   But . . . not anything goes. We’re not monkeys, birds, sloths, or antelope, we’re human beings. We must persevere as human beings until our end. We must live our lives according to God’s design and will until our end.

   It’s possible to make it through till the end in the basic sense of surviving, but we may not when it comes to the quality of our lives and the realization of our potential.
   Remember, Jesus said (cf. Luke 9:23-24):

 . . . If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.

   Regarding this, the quality of our lives and Jesus’ challenging standards, we also are imperfect and living imperfect lives.
   All our life, spiritually too, is a work in progress. Fumbling, bungling, or not, we’re all engaged in a daily struggle involving self-denial and perseverance in imitating the Lord as best we can.
   You may be an imperfect follower of Jesus right now, in the sense of having defects or weaknesses. But, your life’s journey is not yet ended.
   If you persevere until the end trying to live as he teaches, your life is a success story, whether or not you get some recognition and award for outstanding performance.
   Everyone who gets to heaven is a saint, a holy person, whether canonized a saint and held up as a model to be imitated or not!
   Men or women who enter a religious order and take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience used to be considered “in a State of Perfection”. More accurately they are in a state of seeking perfection, seeking to be poor, chaste, and obedient until the end of their lives.
   But, like all of us, they really are in a state of imperfection until their lives are done!


14 August 2022

Why Did God Make Me?

Q. Why did God make you?
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.

   If you’re old enough to have been taught “catechism” as a child, you may remember this question and answer from the Baltimore Catechism.
   It’s about our purposes—and their priority is important:
   Our first purpose is knowledge, not distilled, abstract knowledge but practical, functional knowledge. The first challenge of our lives is to get to know God, to really get to know God, as best we can.
   This means clear thinking about God all during our lives—it’s a never-ending task. As a child, we think about God in a childish way; as a mature adult, we think about God in a mature, adult way. It’s a life-long practice and challenge for each of us.
   Our second purpose is love, not necessarily a passionate or deeply emotional feeling but definitely a persevering choice to seek to know and trust God better and better.
   This means subordinating our will to God’s will, constantly seeking to enjoy God, and striving to make God the center of our lives—another life-long practice and challenge for each of us.
   Our third purpose is service, a total and deep commitment to obey the will of God as best we understand it, especially in expending ourselves for others.
   This means, as St. Ignatius of Loyola said, “. . . to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labor and not to ask for any reward, save that of knowing that we do your [i.e., God’s] will.”
   Just as our knowing gradually changes and develops as we grow older and are more experienced, so does our loving and serving.

   It’s okay that our understanding of our purposes changes as we age. We gradually lose some of the dynamism and spontaneity of our earlier years—but no matter what, we still are called to know, love, and serve God as best we can.
   Our report card about how we live our lives may not be all stars, but it’s important that, no matter what stage of life we’re at, we’re still getting an “A” for effort!
   In all this, beware of comparing yourself to others. Every person is unique. You’re not exactly the same as anybody else. God gives different gifts to different people, and different challenges as well, and has different expectations for each one of us.
   St. Francis de Sales, in his “Introduction to the Devout Life” explained all this well:

   When God the Creator made all things, he commanded the plants to bring forth fruit each according to its own kind; he has likewise commanded Christians, who are the living plants of his Church, to bring forth the fruits of devotion, each one in accord with his character, his station and his calling.
   . . . devotion must be practiced in different ways by the nobleman and by the working man, by the servant and by the prince, by the widow, by the unmarried girl and by the married woman.
   . . . devotion must be adapted to the strength, to the occupation and to the duties of each one in particular.

   God made you to know, to love, and to serve, and you have to do it as best you can—your way, not mine!


31 July 2022

To Be or Not to Be . . .

Hamlet’s reflection about suicide and death, at least the first words of his soliloquy, are very familiar to most English speakers. But, it’s not just a reflection about death and dying—it’s also a reflection about life and living.
   Notice, it’s not about “to live” or “to do” or “to work” or “to endure” and the like—it’s about “to be”.
   You and I, we did not choose “to be”. For better or for worse, we are. Although we can choose to die, we cannot, literally, chose “not to be”; it’s too late for that.
  “To be” is more or less a way of saying “to exist”. It’s a fact, It cannot be totally undone, although it seems as though it can be ended.
   It’s understandable that sometimes our life can seem unbearable. At times, we may feel lost, bewildered, confused, overwhelmed. We may suffer loneliness, misunderstanding, helplessness, failure.
   We can succumb to wishing and seeking not to live any more, but we can’t erase our history to date.
   If we haven’t become famous, important, popular, powerful, beautiful, wealthy, or the like, it makes no difference. We’re not called upon to be this or that. We’re fundamentally meant “to be”. It’s alluded to in a popular hymn:

     “Glory to God, Glory,
     O praise Him, alleluia.
     Glory to God, Glory,
     O praise the name of the Lord.”

   In a society where achievement is an important value, it’s important to realize that the most important value of all is simply to be the person God made us to be and wants us to be.
   There’s no competition to be the tallest mountain, the brightest sunrise, the sweetest flower, the swiftest river. Why should we compete with any other rather than be glad to be who and what we are?

   My challenge is to be me, not to be you. Each of us is a unique creation, a unique collection of gifts and talents, meant to make a unique contribution to the world in which we live.
   I have to strive to be the person God wants me to be, not who anybody else wants me to be. I have to sing my song, whether anyone else hears it or not. I have to blossom and bloom, whether anyone else sees me or not.
   I have a role to play in the world, whether noticed or unnoticed. There are things that, if I don’t do them, they will never be done. There are people who, if I don’t love them, may never know love.
   Every single one of us has a purpose, a destiny, a mission that is unique and irreplaceable. The choice is not so much “to be or not to be” in the sense of living or dying—it’s more to be what each of us is meant to be, to fulfill the unique destiny that each of us is challenged with.
   Poor confused, bewildered, torn, and frustrated Hamlet, the dead king’s son. Just because you are a king’s son doesn’t necessarily mean that you will inherit his kingdom. Just because you are a victim of others’ greed and passion doesn’t necessarily mean that you must avenge their victims and right their wrongs.
   Shakespeare’s play is entitled “The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark”. It’s a tragedy because it deals with a serious and sad theme about a person destined to experience downfall and destruction through a character flaw or conflict with the overpowering force of fate.
   Be! Live out your life story. But, be careful! Don’t let your story become a tragedy!


19 June 2022