Too often I think we judge the world, others and ourselves by someone else’s measure of what should be. I am the exact same age as George Clooney. I look nothing like him, nor am I as rich, nor as smooth. But seriously, why would I want to be George Clooney? If I were George Clooney, I wouldn’t be a minister, I wouldn’t be serving a church I love, I wouldn’t be married to the love of my life, I wouldn’t have the children and grandchildren I adore. I am who I am for a reason, I may not understand that reason but I do my best to meet the challenges of each day with grace and humor. That is choosing to live out the potential I am given. I make mistakes but I try to learn from them, for mistakes are part of our potential as well.
We can look at the world any number of ways; as half full or half empty, as wanting or more than enough. We can see ourselves and each other as yet unrealized potential of compassion and love or as selfish beings ruled by the secular virtues of possession, consumption or competition. Each view is actually valid. So you get to choose. Which will it be? Am I a person waiting to be even more giving or a person afraid there won’t be enough love or money to keep me safe? Which will it be? Will we celebrate our gifts and try to reach out to those in need, or will we believe we can’t really afford that, we have to tighten our belt, get real, survive. Each of these world views is a potential. But we get to decide, individually and collectively. We choose.
With Grace and Grit, John
