Faith & Life Inspirational Message

A couple months ago I spent some time with a group of students in the process of discussing various careers.   Part of what was at stake was helping them think about this before they graduate.   Too often a college student thinks that a particular major leads to a special job.   Sometimes this is true.   But more often than not, there is no direct corollary between our major in college and the careers we wind up pursuing.             I am certainly not against a student choosing a major in college.   As a matter of fact, most colleges require that major to graduate.   What I do want to question is the assumption that certain majors lead to certain careers.   It is more involved than that.   And perhaps there are times when luck has a role to play.   What did happen in the discussion provoked me to start thinking about the whole phenomenon.        ...

The story in the article began with an engaging interaction.   “A parishioner walks up to her pastor and says, ‘I want to give you my kidney.’   Pastor smiles and says, ‘OK.’   Don't expect a punch line.   It's no joke.”   The story comes from an encounter in a Roman Catholic Church in West Simsbury, CT---St. Catherine of Sienna Parish.   Father Michael Whyte arrived as parish priest in 2008.   Due to diabetes and other complicating factors, he was in need of a new kidney.   One day at Mass he let the parishioners know he was on a waiting list. This is a sad story, but certainly not a unique story.   Fr. Whyte has an advantage because he could assume people would care about him.   We all know there are many people in the world in need of something and no one cares.   That is always tragic.   Fr. Whyte would not have been surprised that many within the church offered to get tested to see if they were a match. The story get...

As I began to study religion in college, I began to acquire information and knowledge that helped me to think about my own religious heritage.   Acquiring some knowledge also helped me to think about life.   In the days when I was growing up on an Indiana farm, there was not the technology that exists today.   Because of that, I spent great deal of time by myself riding a tractor in some field.   There were only things to do: think and daydream.   I did a huge amount of both!             This life was a good life.   But there was one drawback, which I did not recognize at the time.   The drawback was that I did not have enough information, experience and knowledge to make sense of life.   I was given a rudimentary religious education that probably helped make sense of life.   But I don’t think I paid much attention and, certainly, did not really “own” it as my perspective.   In so...

There are many ways people would describe the point of their lives.   For many the list would entail their own kids and, maybe, grandkids.   Work is the source of meaning for many people.   It might be their churches, synagogues or mosques.   I am sure I cannot imagine some of the answers some folks might have to the question, what is the point of life?             Even if we have figured out the point of life for ourselves, it is not a given that we are living life in a way that makes it certain that we will achieve what we said was the point of life.   Sadly, there are too many people who can tell you what the point of life is and, yet, in the next sentence confess they are living far from being able to pull it off.   I felt this way when I was younger.             There are others who would simply not be sure what the point of their lives w...

I have often said that religion is one way of making meaning in life.   And I do believe that.   Religion offers a perspective on the world and on life that paints a picture to show how we understand ourselves in that world.   Of course not everyone has a religion or shares a religious perspective.   It is very easy and quite acceptable today for someone to be an atheist.   Atheism also is a way of making meaning in life. Sometimes that bothers a few of my religious friends.   They do not think atheism is a way to make meaning in life.   Simply because they are religious, they cannot imagine any other way to do it.   With this perspective, religion is the only way to make meaning.   I understand that perspective; I don’t share it.   I don’t share it, in part, because I do not think I can be the one who defines what counts as meaning.   For example, if I am to assume that you have to be religious to have meaning, then I am going ...

I lead a group that meets every Monday.   It is a delightful group of people to join weekly.   Our purpose is to discuss life and hear how each other is engaged in making sense of life.   That may seem too general to be interesting, but I can assure you it is not too general.   As a matter of fact, people bring their real life experiences to the group and we all prosper by hearing each other share what we know about life, as well, as listen to each other’s questions about life.   I think we all have assumptions about life.   One assumption I have about people is that all of us in our own way are trying to make sense of our lives.   When I say make sense of life, I mean we are trying to figure out our purpose in life.   Another way to put it is we are trying to find meaning.   I am confident that the core experience of living a life without meaning is despair.   Despair literally means to be without hope.   A second assumption ...