In my previous posts within this series, I have focused a lot of attention on our inner thoughts, emotional well-being, and personal spirituality. Today, I am writing about the benefit of getting out and being involved.
If we remain in our own little worlds all the time, staring intently at our navels, it is likely we will become self-centered. We could become like Narcissus and fall so deeply in love with our own reflection that we would rather die than stop staring at it. At the very least, staring so intently at our own navels will lead to boredom (there is only so much belly lint). On the flip side, only focusing our attention on others leads to the martyr syndrome. We help others to avoid looking at our own depravity, but then we grow weary from all our giving and self-sacrifice. We move from feeling good about ourselves because we are someone’s hero to feeling resentment because they need so much.
We need to have a both/and attitude – spending time in self-reflection AND spending time focused on others. There must be balance.
Involvement is about connecting with something bigger than you. It is being a part of something where the spotlight is not on you. By being a part of something else, we are able to experience a sense of community. The key here, we are but one part, not the whole. We see that we have a role to play, but the play itself is not a monologue.
Victor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, was a Jewish psychotherapist in Nazi occupied Europe during WWII. He survived atrocities beyond imagination while imprisoned in concentration camps. One of the main points of his book is that if a person has a reason to live, he/she can survive most any circumstances. Frankl survived by thinking of his family and his role as husband and father. Thoughts of reuniting with them, of not dying and thus departing them sustained him. When others were throwing themselves against the electric fence and committing suicide, Frankl found resilience. His family was bigger than himself – this gave him a reason to live.
I do not believe that our own self-actualization is reason enough to live. Though important, it is not everything. If I dare, I will go as far to say that our personal relationship with God, our individual spirituality is also not enough to sustain us through atrocity. I am not diminishing the importance of our pursuit of God, but there must be more. It is both/and – our individual quest for God as well as our involvement in the Body of Christ.
Our involvement does not have to consume large amounts of our time or be a massive project. The point is that we are involved in something that gives us a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, but it does not center on ourselves. Whether it is volunteering once a year to build houses for the poor, or being a part of a weekly prayer group, or simply fulfilling your vocation as parent and spouse, it is about being present – being engaged with something beyond ourselves.
May we not neglect our inner journey towards healing, but let us not die by failing to take our eyes off of ourselves. Find your part and join the cast in the play of Life.
Next . . . “J” as in Joy.
If we remain in our own little worlds all the time, staring intently at our navels, it is likely we will become self-centered. We could become like Narcissus and fall so deeply in love with our own reflection that we would rather die than stop staring at it. At the very least, staring so intently at our own navels will lead to boredom (there is only so much belly lint). On the flip side, only focusing our attention on others leads to the martyr syndrome. We help others to avoid looking at our own depravity, but then we grow weary from all our giving and self-sacrifice. We move from feeling good about ourselves because we are someone’s hero to feeling resentment because they need so much.
We need to have a both/and attitude – spending time in self-reflection AND spending time focused on others. There must be balance.
Involvement is about connecting with something bigger than you. It is being a part of something where the spotlight is not on you. By being a part of something else, we are able to experience a sense of community. The key here, we are but one part, not the whole. We see that we have a role to play, but the play itself is not a monologue.
Victor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, was a Jewish psychotherapist in Nazi occupied Europe during WWII. He survived atrocities beyond imagination while imprisoned in concentration camps. One of the main points of his book is that if a person has a reason to live, he/she can survive most any circumstances. Frankl survived by thinking of his family and his role as husband and father. Thoughts of reuniting with them, of not dying and thus departing them sustained him. When others were throwing themselves against the electric fence and committing suicide, Frankl found resilience. His family was bigger than himself – this gave him a reason to live.
I do not believe that our own self-actualization is reason enough to live. Though important, it is not everything. If I dare, I will go as far to say that our personal relationship with God, our individual spirituality is also not enough to sustain us through atrocity. I am not diminishing the importance of our pursuit of God, but there must be more. It is both/and – our individual quest for God as well as our involvement in the Body of Christ.
Our involvement does not have to consume large amounts of our time or be a massive project. The point is that we are involved in something that gives us a sense of purpose, a sense of belonging, but it does not center on ourselves. Whether it is volunteering once a year to build houses for the poor, or being a part of a weekly prayer group, or simply fulfilling your vocation as parent and spouse, it is about being present – being engaged with something beyond ourselves.
May we not neglect our inner journey towards healing, but let us not die by failing to take our eyes off of ourselves. Find your part and join the cast in the play of Life.
Next . . . “J” as in Joy.
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