13Sep/091
Gladness, Meet Hunger
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Yesterday, I posted the following quote to my Facebook status:
"The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
I had run across it while at Borders yesterday, skimming through a book a friend suggested this week. In fact, I ran across a bunch of great quotes as I skimmed through the book. I've subsequently added the book to my wishlist, and resolved to writing reflections on some of these quotes over the coming months.
The observation that God steers - if we listen and follow - toward gaps in our world that need the attention of some skill or passion we possess is very personal to me. I have seen it be the case many times in my young life.
For example, right now, in my life, I can point to a few "missions" that God has placed in my path that are things that bring me deep gladness while simultaneously answering a hunger in our world. Two of these that are most obvious in my day-to-day life are Christian family life and music.
Christian Family Life
I believe that the world is very hungry for all the examples that we living Christian family life can give of the natural family in its strength and fullness. And I believe that Suzanne and I have been called to that vocation - the vocation of married and family life.
We try to do all that we can to live out our married vocation and our calling as parents, and to do so in the context of our parish community. It's nice to have the strength of seeing other like-minded parents and families... those our own age and those who have been married 50 or 60 or 70 years as examples of living our calling.
The funny thing is - in spite of all that our culture would say about the pitfalls of marriage or of having children, I can't imagine anything else in life that would make me happier. My family is my life, and I want us to be a "light on a hill" for others to see our happiness and fulfillment in our vocation.
Music
My work in music in the church is another area that brings me great happiness, and answers a longing in the world. Week after week, in the comments and feedback we get on the music that we help lead in our liturgies, I can tell that there are moments with our music that help God reach people in our parish. Being able to contribute my talents to allow the Holy Spirit to have those moments is humbling to me and brings me gladness.
What Brings You Happiness that the World Hungers For?
I think that's the question that we all face. And in the quite whisperings "deep within our hearts and spirits," God tries to point us toward those things that we could choose to do, those tasks or projects we could pick up or those organizations we could join to help make a difference.
Keep listening... stay open to His whispers in prayer... and be brave enough to pick up the Cross when it's handed to you and carry it with strength and grace. The hunger of the world demands this fullness of our true Christianity. And our gladness - here and hereafter - are directly impacted as a result.
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September 13th, 2009 - 20:06
Loved this post Michael. Definitely food for thought. Sometimes when life gets busy I think I forget to listen for the whispers. Something I definitely am working harder on doing!