In 1854 Henry David Thoreau penned these words while writing Walden: "The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation."
I believe that Mr. Thoreau was quite right with these insightful words. I personally know what it is to live life in quiet desperation. I've been there a few times. And I have seen it in the faces and heard it in the voices of the majority of people that I've interacted with over the past 16 years. Lynn and I have moved around a lot since we married. We've lived in the Midwest, the north, the south, again in the Midwest, and again in the south. Over the years our lives have been loosely entangled with the lives of literally hundreds of people, most of whom appeared to be living just as Thoreau described.
I'm not really sure of Thoreau's spiritual beliefs. It seems I remember hearing that he was agnostic. Nonetheless, with those words he pressed in on a deeply spiritual issue. Why is it that so many around us live such lives of quiet desperation? I believe it is because they have lost their sense of purpose.
As children, we are all existentialists. We are very aware of our unique and mysterious existence in the world and insist upon the world taking notice of said existence. And though as children we don't use these words, we all seem to have a brilliant, unfettered sense of destiny about the role we will play in the world. "I'm going to be an astronaut!" "I'm going to be a scientist!" "I'm going to be a soldier!" "I'm going to be a pirate!" As children, not only do we make these bold, imaginative declarations of personal destiny. We believe them!
But then something happens. As we grow older our existentialist dreams become subdued by the numbing effects of rationalism. "I can't be a scientist because my parents can't afford to send me to college." "I can't be a soldier because I have a disability." "I can't be a pirate because there are laws against such things and I get seasick." "I can't, because." "I can't, because." "I can't, because."
We blink our eyes and we're thirty-five years old with a wife, three kids, a mortgage, two car payments, twelve-thousand dollars of credit card debt, and a job that has us packaging boxes of macaroni. And we stand at the macaroni packaging conveyor belt trying to figure out how to justify our personal consumption of the world's resources. Not that there's anything wrong with someone earning their living by packaging boxes of macaroni. Somebody has to do it. But I wonder how many macaroni packagers dreamed about that job as a child. I have the utmost admiration for the person who did indeed grow up dreaming about packaging macaroni and is now living their dream. But most of us somehow, somewhere along the line stopped believing in and pursuing our destiny and resigned ourselves to simply surviving. Quiet desperation.
I believe that every human being is created by a God who has an amazing destiny in mind for that person. To a young would-be prophet named Jeremiah God said, "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my spokesman to the world." We may be tempted to think, "Well that's Jeremiah. He was special! He was a prophet." All of which would be true. But guess what. You are special. I am special. Every human being was known by God before they were formed in their mother's womb. And every human being has been set apart and appointed for...something. Paul makes this very clear to us in his letter to the Galatians when he said, "For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."
An amazing destiny. What is that? It is the unique purpose for which God created you to accomplish. You and I are "assembled" and "equipped" in such a way to accomplish something in this world that no other person can accomplish. And the adjective "amazing" has nothing to do with WHAT we are doing. It has everything to do with WHY we are doing it. If the macaroni packager was created and gifted by God to package macaroni then he is living an amazing destiny and God will do amazing things through him in that environment. But if the macaroni packager is punching that time-clock every day because he has given up on his dreams and is simply in survival mode, then his amazing destiny is still waiting to be discovered.
So how does he discover it? I believe that your life purpose is now and always has been hidden in plain sight. What fascinated you as a child? What games did you play the most? What nicknames did the other kids give you? What subjects in school did you really enjoy? What have you been most frequently complimented on? What subjects could keep you engaged in conversation until 2:00 a.m.? If you had a full week to do anything you wanted to do, what would it be? What do you daydream about while you're doing your job. What coincidences have most startled you? Which three movies could you watch over and over again without getting tired of them?
Get a pen and a piece of paper. I'll wait until you get back.
That was quick. Now look at those questions again and then write down all of the answers that come to mind. I'll wait.
I had time to refill my coffee that time. Thanks.
Now. There you have it. You now have, on the piece of paper in front of you, all the clues that you need to discover the purpose for which God created you. Get after it. Don't ever again let the words "I can't, because" cross your lips as you set your mind and heart to pursuing your destiny. Don't let anything stop you. Take whatever risks you need to, regardless of how ridiculous or dangerous they may be. Just do it. The worst that can happen is death. But how would you rather die: chasing wildly after your dreams or in quiet desperation?
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