To Be or Not To Be - Are You a Human Being or a Human Doing?
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There’s an age-old question that I believe many of us ask ourselves over and over–what is my life’s purpose? The quest to find that purpose has been taking place for as long as humans have inhabited the earth.
Some Native American cultures practice a vision quest (our Americanized name), a rite of passage which usually is undertaken by young males entering adulthood. The rite traditionally practiced by those Native American cultures usually consists of a series of ceremonies led by Elders and supported by the community. The process often includes a four-day, four-night fast during which the young man stays alone at a sacred site in nature. During this time of fasting, the youth prays and cries out to the spirits of his culture for a vision that will help him find his purpose in life. He is seeking his role in his community and in what way he may serve his people best. Dreams or visions had during this time are often seen as signs that require interpretation by Elders.
When researching Indigenous Peoples for my book, Island of Miracles, I learned that this practice is not confined to Native Americans. Many Indigenous Peoples around the world have similar rites that usher a youth into adulthood and point him in the right direction. Religions also practice youth-to-adult rites such as Bar Mitzvahs and Bat Mitzvahs or the Catholic sacrament of Confirmation. These rites are more religious based than life-purpose based, but I do think there is a similar goal which is to celebrate a child’s transition into the next phase of his or her life in which he or she will make decisions about how they will live their lives.
Recently, I was listening to Father Mike Schmitz’s Bible in a Year podcast, and he talked about the relationship between Jonathan and David in the First Book of Samuel. The two young men should have been enemies. They should have been jealous of each other. They should have each wanted the other to fail in his endeavors. Why? Because Jonathan was the heir to the Jewish throne, but David had been chosen by God to inherit the throne of Jonathan’s father, Saul. Why, according to Father Mike, did these men become best friends instead of enemies? Because they both recognized that they each had a purpose in life. Jonathan saw that his purpose was not the same as David’s, thus he was not jealous of his friend.
How often do we look at others and wish their lives were ours? How often do we imagine ourselves in someone else’s place? How often do we struggle with the person we are and the person we are meant to be?
I have spent most of my adult life searching and praying for my purpose to be revealed. At one time, my purpose was to be a daughter who learned from her parents. At another time, it was to be a librarian who taught others to find answers and knowledge. My purpose for many years was to be a mother who raised daughters in a secular, unGodly world. For over a dozen years now, I have been refining my purpose as a writer. What am I meant to write? Where is this journey meant to lead me? What am I to do with my writing that will benefit others and God?
I’ve come to realize that this is what our purpose should be – to live our lives in such a way that we do service to others and to God.
I think that’s why a lot of people go through life simply tossing stones into the sea.
A stone tossed into the sea does nothing. It does not float. It does not return. It simply falls to the bottom and settles there. So often, the purpose we believe is ours in life does the same. It’s stagnant. It doesn’t enhance our lives nor the lives of others. We think that it will somehow bring us happiness and success and make us feel good about our lives, but it often does the opposite. We feel lost, empty, unanchored. We have tossed a stone that will not yield fruit, will not come back and enrich our lives, and will not help us find our path, our purpose.
I spent all of Holy Week in 2021 intensely praying for the wisdom to move closer to my true purpose in life. Throughout that week, I experienced things that I cannot put into words. I saw signs that amazed me, that turned me toward something I’ve always thought about but never dreamed was possible. I heard, in the words of others and in my own consciousness, voices that encouraged me to begin walking toward that goal. Over the next several days, I witnessed one thing after another coming together like a snowball rolling down a mountain, the momentum growing steadily as the snowball approached me, and I could feel my heartbeat accelerating with both fear and excitement.
Over the last year, I spent a great deal of time writing, rewriting, find-tuning, and submitting for publication a Bible study. It’s something I have felt my heart and my mind moving toward for many years, and if it's published, I feel ready to embark on what I see as my true mission. For now, it is God's hands.
If you’re wondering about your own mission, if you’re not sure where to go or what to do next, if you’re seeking your purpose in life, I encourage you to pray. Examine your talents and your gifts. Ask, if I may paraphrase President John F. Kennedy, not what the world can do for you, but what can you do for the world? Because I believe therein lies the key.
Rather than asking, what can I do to better my life or raise my status or increase my wealth, ask instead, what can I do to help others or to aid in the mission of the Church or for God?
It’s when we stop tossing stones into the water and look toward Heaven for answers that we will truly see our innermost dreams fly.
Parts of this article first appeared on Amy Schisler's Blog, Discover Your Purpose and Make it Fly, April 21, 2021
Amy has been writing all of her life as an author and freelance writer. Her first children’s book, Crabbing With Granddad, is an autobiographical work about spending a day harvesting the Maryland Blue Crab. Amy grew up in Southern Maryland and spent much of her childhood at her grandparents’ house on the shores of the Wicomico River, the inspiration for Crabbing With Granddad as well as her novel, The Devil’s Fortune. Amy received her Bachelor’s Degree from Salisbury University, and graduated from the University of Maryland with a Master’s in Library and Information Science. A former librarian and teacher, she now lives on the Eastern Shore of Maryland with her husband, daughters, and their family dogs.
Amy is the recipient of numerous literary awards for her works of fiction, most notably her Chincoteague Island Trilogy and her book The Good Wine. Seeking Tranquility (2022), is her latest release.
Amy's weekly blog is followed by thousands of readers around the world. Her writing has been hailed “a verbal masterpiece of art” (author Alexa Jacobs).
