True Action

It is quiet up here in the mountains, amazingly so considering that I live within the city limits. But I’m blessed to be far enough from the busyness nearer the center of the city to enjoy the stillness of my surroundings. It’s a time of listening and solitude, of reassesment and rediscovery, of rest and restoration. The Bible tells us that Jesus loved the mountains too, for there He met with His Father, spending many solitary hours in communion and conversation with Him. I am here to do the same, as I wait for Him to reveal what new things and directions He has in store for me.

This morning (7 March 2006) He spoke through the words of Henri Nouwen, who reflects on listening for, and pursuing, our true calling:

Action…can help us to claim and celebrate our true self. But here again we need discipline, because the world in which we live says: “Do this, do that, go here, go there, meet him, meet her.” Busyness has become a sign of importance. Having much to do, many places to go, and countless people to meet gives us status and even fame. However, being busy can lead us away from our true vocation and prevent us from drinking our cup.

It is not easy to distinguish between doing what we are called to do and doing what we want to do. Our many wants can easily distract us from our true action. True action leads us to the fulfillment of our vocation…The most prestigious position in society can be an expression of obedience to our call as well as a sign of our refusal to hear that call, and the least prestigious position, too, can be a response to our vocation as well as a way to avoid it.

Drinking our cup involves carefully choosing those actions which lead us closer to complete emptying of it, so that at the end of our lives we can say with Jesus, “It is fulfilled” (John 19:30). That indeed, is the paradox: we fulfill life by emptying it. In Jesus’ own words: “Anyone who loses his life for my sake wull find it” (Matt. 10:39)

When we are committed to do God’s will and not our own we soon discover that much of what we do doesn’t need to be done by us. What we are called to do are actions that bring us true joy and peace. Just as leaving friends for the sake of the Gospel will bring us friends, so too will letting go of actions not in accord with our call.

Actions that lead to overwork, exhaustion, and burnout can’t praise and glorify God. What God calls us to do we CAN do and do WELL. When we listen in silence to God’s voice and speak with our friends in trust we will know what we are called to do, and we will do it with a grateful heart. (Can You Drink The Cup?)