Purpose

Several years ago, two books about different sea birds appeared with vastly different levels of acceptance. One was Jonathan Livingston Seagull which became a best seller and a movie. The other was Celebrate the Sun which was about Harry a pelican. Jonathan was a hit because he exemplified the American work ethic of striving to be greater than any seagull had ever been. He was the epitome of all of the habits of highly successful people we have idolized.

Nobody has heard much about Harry Langendorf the pelican. He started off like Jonathan Livingston trying to attain power and greatness at all cost but after the death of his son his life changed, and he started taking care of “the old, the halt and the lame.” He would lead them on excursions where they would celebrate life and the sun. He did not picture our idea of a successful life, so he has been pretty well ignored.

We have created our own unique caste system based on what we have and what job we hold. One of the first things we find out about a person is what kind of employment they have so we can know how high up on the rating system to place them. Our purpose in life can become having stuff and being recognized for having it. The more we have the more we are honored and catered to. If we are rich enough, we can throw our weight around and treat everyone else like peons.

Reputation has become king in such a world as ours. Nothing matters as much as what other people think and say about us. The result is a life of fear and hiding. Reputation and how we look dominates our days and feeds demons in our souls. The healthiest poster I have reads, “Your opinion of me is none of my business.” That takes bravery beyond the call.

The problem is the American work ethic ultimately fails. What happens when we can no longer work? What happens when in spite of all of our wealth and power our health begins to fail, and we are singing the old song, “Is That All There Is?”

The two most important days in every life are the day we are born and the day we discover why we were born; our purpose, why we are here. Jesus modeled and taught a very radical idea that purpose was not what we could attain or even what we could do, but purpose was who we became. The kind of person we are.

I do not believe in reincarnation but there is one concept there that I really like. What if this is say the sixth time I have been alive, and the goal is to see how much I can polish who I am on each trip? That is purpose as taught by Jesus.

I have read I Corinthians 13 called the love chapter more times than I can count but one day it hit me that the message was about purpose.

It is not what we say, “Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels and have not love I am a sounding brass and a tinkling symbol.”

It is not about how much I know. “If I have all knowledge so I can understand all of the prophecies, etc.” Or what I believe, “If I have faith enough to move mountains? It profits me nothing.” Not even what I give… “If I give my body to be burned and have no love,” still nothing.

The goal is to become a person of love. That is the reason we are here period. That is all that will last. If we become totally paralyzed and can no longer move a muscle or speak a word, we can still love.

The longer I live, the more I believe that the victory in Jesus we sing about is not getting our prayers answered or bodies healed, it is the discovery and the establishment of self-worth. He came to help each of us find our own value. Nothing changes us more than that discovery. Nothing gives more peace nor more purpose than finding out that we have value as a person.

A friend told me about hearing the story of one of his friends. She was a large woman from birth. Her parents were large people with heavy frames so all of her life she had struggled with her body and her weight. She told of hundreds of prayers that began with, “God why did you make me like this?” She was warm and friendly and even funny while hurting inside and was mostly ignored by the men.

She became a social worker and went to work in a coastal town in the South. Every day on her way to work she passed a house just off of the service road where she exited. A small boy was always sitting on the porch and waving at the cars as they passed. She decided to find out about the boy and found out he was physically handicapped and could not walk. He lived with his mother who had to work to support them and she was afraid to leave him in the house for fear of fire so his whole world became the access road to the expressway. He had never seen a farm or almost anything else. The woman got permission from the mother to take the boy on excursions to have some joy in his life. She said, “The first day I was to take him I was very excited. I walked up on the porch, lifted him into my arms. and said, “Thank You God for Making Me Big Enough to Lift Him.” First time she was ever glad she was who she was. First time she ever understood that purpose is not how we look, nor what we have, nor how well we are known. purpose is who we are and discovering that leads to our discovering our own worth.