Monday, August 22, 2005

It's Not About You

"Once you say the yes of faith to Jesus and accept His blueprint for the fullness of life, the whole world can no longer revolve around you, your needs, your gratifications; you'll have to revolve around the world, seeking to bandage its wounds, loving dead men into life, finding the lost, wanting the unwanted, and leaving far behind all the selfish, parasitical concerns which drain our time and energies."
--John Powell

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How does one do that? How does one let go of the drive to tend to her own needs and her own wounds...and where is the line between something being a parasitical concern and being a valid one? Is there a difference between letting the world revolve around you and simply removing yourself from the whole of the revolving world to a small corner of it so that you don't bother anyone, you don't impose on anyone, you don't cause anyone to hurt? So you don't need anyone and so you aren't hurt by needing someone or something that isn't there? I feel like the key to allowing Jesus in to heal me is to open my hands, let go of myself and reach out to someone other than myself; yet as an introvert and one who much prefers quiet alone time or at most time spent in small groups of close friends, the idea of pushing myself out into society to reach out, to actively seek and build relationships brings up an almost nauseating fear. I want to shrink back from the computer even as I type the thought. Is it that I am wired that way or is it a learned behavior? How does one such as I reach out? Is reaching out Jesus' blueprint for even an introvert's life and what will it mean for one like me to accept that?

Amy said...

Tough questions, Maria. Thanks for being honest. It's easy for me to parrot a quote I read somewhere, and hard for you and me to think through the nitty-gritty of living it out. I need to chew on your thoughts a bit.