26 Apr 2009, 8.30am
8:30am Family ServiceThree basic spiritual questions in life:
1. ‘Whose am I?' - Belonging
(a) Family - "basic unit of society".
(b) Community - "It takes a village to raise a child".
(c) Faith community - "find yourself in church this Sunday".
2.‘Who am I?' - IdentityQ of adolescence. Needs belonging Q answered first. Need to have healthy relationships (/sense of community) to answer well.What get in the way? Concerns of young Australians (11-24) (Mission Australia annual Youth Survey): Drugs - increased concern for young people, especially 11-14yrs & males. Stress & depression - continuing issue. Body image - increased with age in the survey. Concerns for safety - this was a new category on the survey, result important to note.
3.‘What is the meaning & purpose of my life?' - VocationWhat is/will be the meaning & purpose of each of our lives? - Our vocation? the unique task in the world God is calling each of us to that no one else can do? We can't answer this for another, only they can!Vocation is, "the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need.
This is what Quaker author Parker Palmer has to say about vocation: "Today I understand vocation quite differently [from what I used to] - not as a goal to be achieved but as a gift to be received. Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation does not come from a voice "out there" calling me to become something I am not. It comes from a voice "in here" calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfil the original selfhood given me at birth by God....Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image [set by others] of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks - we will also find our path of authentic service in the world. True vocation joins self and service define vocation as "the place where your deep gladness meets the world's deep need. "This definition starts with the self and moves toward the needs of the world: it begins, wisely, where vocation begins - not in what the world needs (which is everything), but in the nature of the human self, in what brings the self joy, the deep joy of knowing that we are here on earth to be the gifts that God created." (‘Let Your Life Speak')Oliver Dahl will need our help to: 1. Understand whose he is, 2. understand who he is, & 3. to uncover the meaning & purpose of his life. May we all gain a clearer sense of where we belong, who we are, & the meaning & purpose of our lives, as we journey together with Christ who is alive in our midst.
Tim Booth
