When we become who God has always meant us to be, we help others to realize who God has always intended them to be. When we love, we help others to love.
In my quest to discover my true identity, I have been assisted by numerous friends. This week and last week, I have been thinking especially of a dear friend of mine who passed away at the end of last month. I've written before of this cherished friend, who I have called "Uncle." In his reflective, meditative way, Uncle supplied helpful insight to me as I have struggled to find my real identity. For years he served me as a valuable friend, accompanying me as I did work which I knew was not the best fit for me.
For ten years I worked as an attorney, even though I really didn't want to be doing such work; I was forcing myself to work as an attorney so I could pay off my large debts. I didn't have an idea of what I would do next until I had been a lawyer for more than a few years. Even though I didn't know what I would do after I stopped being a lawyer, I was impatient to move on and stop lawyering.
Usually I remained silent about wanting to switch to some other type of work. However, looking back at those days as an attorney, it seems that even though so often I kept quiet about wanting to cease lawyering, now I feel I was receiving direction about where I was headed. Now it seems as if Uncle and the rest of the family were implicitly preparing me and teaching me simply by welcoming me into their homes.
At this point it seems as if, embedded in their actions of welcoming me into their homes, they were showing me that I was taking steps to get ready for what I would do next. Yet if Uncle had explained their assistance through words, I envision that he would have taken one of his characteristic pauses in which he carefully pondered what he was about to say. Then I can imagine him gently and wisely advising me, "In what you are doing right now, you are preparing for what you want to do later."
Often we don't see right away how we are preparing for what will come later. Friends help us see what we can't see.
I visualize him having given me this insight while sitting with him at one of the many family celebrations with him and the rest of his family. At Thanksgiving dinners and birthday celebrations, I was welcomed into their family. Insofar as they're Filipino, I was repeatedly experiencing the context of a different cultural background when we celebrated together on these occasions.
As I was welcomed time and again into their homes, they didn't realize that they were preparing me to go into the Peace Corps. Just as Uncle and the rest of their family welcomed me into their homes and another cultural background, similarly once I arrived with the Peace Corps in Morocco, I was being welcomed into host families in another culture.
Long after I left Morocco, I realized that Uncle's warmth and generosity and welcoming nature had been echoed in the hospitality I received in Morocco. Yet before I had even left Morocco, I had resolved to extend hospitality to others once I left Morocco. And so I was influenced in my decision to enter a reformed Benedictine monastery, since Benedictine monks offer hospitality to visitors. I lived and worked at the Camaldolese hermitage on the Big Sur coast of California partly since I strove to be hospitable just as Uncle and the rest of his family, as well as Moroccans, were hospitable to me.
Similarly, I have felt drawn to live and work at Catholic Worker Houses partly since I have wanted to offer hospitality to those in need of it. Thus I find myself here at this Catholic Worker House in part due to Uncle's warm and giving and hospitable nature.
Thus I return to what I wrote in a recent blog post: in being ourselves, we help others to find themselves. As we give, we help others to give.
Uncle and his daughters and the rest of their family, in extending hospitality to me, led me to realize I wanted to extend hospitality to others. In being themselves, they helped me to be me. When we embrace who God calls us to be, we help others realize who God calls them to be.
When we love, we help others to love. When we love others, we show who we are.
When we love others, we welcome others into our hearts. When we love others, we welcome God into our hearts.
When we extend hospitality to our neighbor, we love our neighbor as ourselves,* as Jesus taught us to do. We would like to receive hospitality from others, so when we offer hospitality to others, we treat others as we would like to be treated.
We become what we do. When we love, we become love. Let us love, help others to love, and become love. Amen.
* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
In my quest to discover my true identity, I have been assisted by numerous friends. This week and last week, I have been thinking especially of a dear friend of mine who passed away at the end of last month. I've written before of this cherished friend, who I have called "Uncle." In his reflective, meditative way, Uncle supplied helpful insight to me as I have struggled to find my real identity. For years he served me as a valuable friend, accompanying me as I did work which I knew was not the best fit for me.
For ten years I worked as an attorney, even though I really didn't want to be doing such work; I was forcing myself to work as an attorney so I could pay off my large debts. I didn't have an idea of what I would do next until I had been a lawyer for more than a few years. Even though I didn't know what I would do after I stopped being a lawyer, I was impatient to move on and stop lawyering.
Usually I remained silent about wanting to switch to some other type of work. However, looking back at those days as an attorney, it seems that even though so often I kept quiet about wanting to cease lawyering, now I feel I was receiving direction about where I was headed. Now it seems as if Uncle and the rest of the family were implicitly preparing me and teaching me simply by welcoming me into their homes.
At this point it seems as if, embedded in their actions of welcoming me into their homes, they were showing me that I was taking steps to get ready for what I would do next. Yet if Uncle had explained their assistance through words, I envision that he would have taken one of his characteristic pauses in which he carefully pondered what he was about to say. Then I can imagine him gently and wisely advising me, "In what you are doing right now, you are preparing for what you want to do later."
Often we don't see right away how we are preparing for what will come later. Friends help us see what we can't see.
I visualize him having given me this insight while sitting with him at one of the many family celebrations with him and the rest of his family. At Thanksgiving dinners and birthday celebrations, I was welcomed into their family. Insofar as they're Filipino, I was repeatedly experiencing the context of a different cultural background when we celebrated together on these occasions.
As I was welcomed time and again into their homes, they didn't realize that they were preparing me to go into the Peace Corps. Just as Uncle and the rest of their family welcomed me into their homes and another cultural background, similarly once I arrived with the Peace Corps in Morocco, I was being welcomed into host families in another culture.
Long after I left Morocco, I realized that Uncle's warmth and generosity and welcoming nature had been echoed in the hospitality I received in Morocco. Yet before I had even left Morocco, I had resolved to extend hospitality to others once I left Morocco. And so I was influenced in my decision to enter a reformed Benedictine monastery, since Benedictine monks offer hospitality to visitors. I lived and worked at the Camaldolese hermitage on the Big Sur coast of California partly since I strove to be hospitable just as Uncle and the rest of his family, as well as Moroccans, were hospitable to me.
Similarly, I have felt drawn to live and work at Catholic Worker Houses partly since I have wanted to offer hospitality to those in need of it. Thus I find myself here at this Catholic Worker House in part due to Uncle's warm and giving and hospitable nature.
Thus I return to what I wrote in a recent blog post: in being ourselves, we help others to find themselves. As we give, we help others to give.
Uncle and his daughters and the rest of their family, in extending hospitality to me, led me to realize I wanted to extend hospitality to others. In being themselves, they helped me to be me. When we embrace who God calls us to be, we help others realize who God calls them to be.
When we love, we help others to love. When we love others, we show who we are.
When we love others, we welcome others into our hearts. When we love others, we welcome God into our hearts.
When we extend hospitality to our neighbor, we love our neighbor as ourselves,* as Jesus taught us to do. We would like to receive hospitality from others, so when we offer hospitality to others, we treat others as we would like to be treated.
We become what we do. When we love, we become love. Let us love, help others to love, and become love. Amen.
* Matthew 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27; Leviticus 19:18; Romans 13:9; Galatians 5:14
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