"Whenever you create a society that has to define itself by power and success, there will have to be those who are powerless and non-successful. And that's the vast majority of the people in our society. People in our society are set up to lose." (R.Rohr "Radical Grace" p. 19)
Go to any Little League Baseball game and you will see plenty of people who have dreams of being a big league player. In just about every walk of life there is a dream that floats just in front of our realities.
If it weren't for a certain level of dreams or fantasies, life would suck. Even in my profession there are levels of achievement that most Episcopal Clergy will never reach. The odds of me becoming a bishop are pretty small. Heck I'm not even sure I'd want to be one, but I won't say I've never thought about it. But if the only measure of a successful ministry was to attain that office, I and 99% of clergy will fail.
This constant comparative world that we live in can ultimately destroy a person. We'll never be as thin as that model. We'll probably not be whatever it is we're holding onto as the ideal.
One of the greatest things we can achieve I believe is a sense of acceptance for who we are, and what are gifts are, and how the world's standards do not have to be ours.
It is not easy to come to that place. Yet when I reflect on the great heroes of scripture and tradition, most of them would not have been seen as potentially successful either.
Blessings,
Ed
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment