Kind of a Book Review, But Not Really

I don’t know what I want to write about, but I know I haven’t posted in a while, and that feels wrong.  Shall we start with another little checklist thingie?  Lets.

Since the last time I made a list, I’ve:

• Contacted a free career counselor.  Haven’t heard back yet.
• Started a spreadsheet of resources and organizations in Awesome U.’s area
• Received the mp3 of a teleclass about making an academic resume into a more saleable resume.  I haven’t listened to it yet, and I’m not sure when I’m going to make time for that!
• I sent an email to a minister friend of mine asking about work opportunities in churches, because it’s something I sometimes think I might be interested in.  She sent a long and thoughtful response, which has given me more to think about.
• Finished reading the Richard Bolles’ book (What Color is Your Parachute? super-old edition).  Let’s talk about that.

My favorite parts were in the epilogue, “How To Find Your Mission In Life: God and One’s Vocation.”  It’s great for me to get the God thing out in the open, because my spiritual side is fundamental to my selfhood.  That’s a weird way to express that.  What I mean is, I believe in God and in a relationship between God and me, and that colors the way I see everything, including my self and my career decisions.  So it’s great to have that out there from the get-go.

In the epilogue, Bolles talks about the idea that one might not ever know exactly what one wants to do for the rest of forever.  I might not figure out a single most important long-term goal.  But that’s okay.  I just have to figure out the next thing I want/am able to do.  And once I’m doing that, then I can think about what to do next.  This is a little freeing.  It takes some of the pressure off.

The other thing I liked a lot in the epilogue was this little section (which I will now quote at length–look out!)

Comment 5: Examples of Mission as Intersection

Your unique and individual Mission will most likely turn out to be a mission of Love, acted out in one or all of three arenas: either in the Kingdom of the Mind, whose goal is the bring more Truth into the world; or in the Kingdom of the Heart, whose goal is to bring more Beauty into the world; or in the Kingdom of the Will, whose goal is to bring more Perfection into the world, through Service.

Here are some examples:

“My mission is, out of the rich reservoir of live which God seems to have given me, to nurture and show love for others—most particularly to those who are suffering from incurable diseases.”

“My mission is to draw maps for people to show them how to get to God.”

“My mission is to create the purest foods I can, to help people’s bodies not get in the way of their spiritual growth.”

“My mission is to make the finest harps I can so that people can hear the voice of God in the wind.”

“My mission is to make people laugh, so that the travail of this earthly life doesn’t seem quite so hard to them.”

“My mission is to help people know the truth, in love, about what is happening out in the world, so that there will be more honesty in the world.”

“My mission is to weep with those who weep, so that in my arms they may feel themselves in the arms of that Eternal Love which sent me and which created them.”

“My mission is to create beautiful gardens, so that in the lilies of the field people may behold the Beauty of God and be reminded of the Beauty of Holiness.”

This was so good to read.  So freeing.  Because I tend to think that being in service to others (especially the poor) in a really literal and direct sense is the only noble thing.  Even if it’s not enjoyable.  That somehow martyrdom is worthy, and nothing else is.  Or anything else is okay for somebody, but not for me.  I have to do social justice work, not necessarily because I feel called to it, or because I love it, but because it’s the only thing that’s allowed.  Says me.  I’m only now realizing that maybe, maybe, I can have permission to want to do something else.  I’m not saying that I’m ready to give up on the service thing.  I don’t hate it.  I do value it.  But maybe I can value other options, too.  Revelatory.

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