Less than 20 minutes ago I was sitting in one of my favorite classes. Theater Art. Now, it was only my second class, but already, I'm near crying each class. Whenever people talk about art my heart just swelling with such emotion and I get excited and I think about all the ways art has changed my life.; especially in a story telling way. As a writer, reader, and new theatre lover, the art of story telling is one I appreciate a lot. My professor says a lot of really incredible things, but today in class he said something that I immediately knew I wanted to share with you.
"Life is more than eating, pooping, and procreating. You have a purpose."
It made me stop and think for a moment. It's especially interesting to me because on Friday my biology professor said something completely contrary to that point. He said that eating and crapping and having kids were main goals of life. He told us that this was it. But I don't my bio professor got the whole picture. Because sure, biologically speaking those are what our bodies were designed to do. But there is more that science cannot explain. Our souls. Our purpose. Those deep parts of us that can't be attributed to a part of our brain wiring. We are more than a collection of organs and tissue.
I bring this up because how often do we get caught up into thinking that those things do define us?
You can think that you are what you eat. You ate that cupcake. You ate contrary to what you planned. You binged. And you start to let those things define who you are. You let these human functions be all that you are. You think you are a useless human because for some reason you aren't able to have kids; you believe that if only you didn't eat a certain kind of food that people would like you more. You can begin to base your value on these things. They're important, but you must understand that you are more than your body. C.S Lewis (arguably.) said that "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."
How profound a thought.
That you are more than that can of soda you drank. You are more than your body's physical failures. You are more than your physical competence. There are things about you that cannot be measured by weight or GPA or jean size. Having a cookie doesn't mean you're less human, because there is more to you than that. You are a not food; you are a combination of characteristics that make you distinctly you. You are the way you laugh, the way your eyes light up when you talk about something you love, you are those little quirks, you are the things you love; you cannot be measure in pounds. Your soul is unlike anything else. You are created by God with His fingerprints and by His own design. You are a masterpiece in your own right. You are passion and love and light and you are breathtakingly beautiful.
And you have a purpose.
The word 'purpose' is defined as "the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists." You have that. You have a reason for existing, and let me tell you, it goes way beyond taking care of your physical body. It is important, but why settle for less? Our purposes are so vastly different, I don't know if any two are ever alike. We may have similar callings, but it will never be the exact same. There is a purpose only you can fill. For instance, Diana and I run this ministry together; we're both in college (the same community college, and planning to transfer to the same university.) and we have the same degree; psychology. But Diana focuses more on victims of abuse, whereas my focus is on mental illness and using art as type of therapy. See? Similar, but different, Plus we both have different perspectives to offer with different personality traits and characteristics. We're different people.
Find your purpose. It's there. Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God's workmanship [masterpiece.] Created in Christ to do good works..." And Romans 8:28 says "And we know that God works all things out for good of those who love and are called according to His purpose."
What's your purpose?
I know, you get asked that question a lot by parents and teachers and peers. "What do you want to do with the rest of your life?" It gets old. And sometimes we don't know what we want to do and that's okay. But just because we don't know our purpose doesn't mean we don't have one. It may take a while but keep searching. Find things you love and feel passionately about. Search around. Try some things out. Be adventurous! But have patience with yourself too. It'll come around eventually. And in the mean time, just keep doing what you're doing.
Every human has a purpose and a meaning in life. You are not just this flesh and bone. To quote Yoda from Star Wars, "Luminous beings are we. Not this crude matter."
Don't get so caught up in life that you forget to live. Don't get so caught up in the physical that you forget what's eternal.
You are more than this.
"Are you searching for purpose? Then write something, yeah it might be worthless. Paint something then it might be wordless, pointless curses, nonsense verses; you'll see purpose start to surface. No one else is dealing with your demons, meaning maybe defeating them could be the beginning of your meaning, friend." -Kitchen Sink, twenty one pilots
"Life is more than eating, pooping, and procreating. You have a purpose."
It made me stop and think for a moment. It's especially interesting to me because on Friday my biology professor said something completely contrary to that point. He said that eating and crapping and having kids were main goals of life. He told us that this was it. But I don't my bio professor got the whole picture. Because sure, biologically speaking those are what our bodies were designed to do. But there is more that science cannot explain. Our souls. Our purpose. Those deep parts of us that can't be attributed to a part of our brain wiring. We are more than a collection of organs and tissue.
I bring this up because how often do we get caught up into thinking that those things do define us?
You can think that you are what you eat. You ate that cupcake. You ate contrary to what you planned. You binged. And you start to let those things define who you are. You let these human functions be all that you are. You think you are a useless human because for some reason you aren't able to have kids; you believe that if only you didn't eat a certain kind of food that people would like you more. You can begin to base your value on these things. They're important, but you must understand that you are more than your body. C.S Lewis (arguably.) said that "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."
How profound a thought.
That you are more than that can of soda you drank. You are more than your body's physical failures. You are more than your physical competence. There are things about you that cannot be measured by weight or GPA or jean size. Having a cookie doesn't mean you're less human, because there is more to you than that. You are a not food; you are a combination of characteristics that make you distinctly you. You are the way you laugh, the way your eyes light up when you talk about something you love, you are those little quirks, you are the things you love; you cannot be measure in pounds. Your soul is unlike anything else. You are created by God with His fingerprints and by His own design. You are a masterpiece in your own right. You are passion and love and light and you are breathtakingly beautiful.
And you have a purpose.
The word 'purpose' is defined as "the reason for which something is done or created or for which something exists." You have that. You have a reason for existing, and let me tell you, it goes way beyond taking care of your physical body. It is important, but why settle for less? Our purposes are so vastly different, I don't know if any two are ever alike. We may have similar callings, but it will never be the exact same. There is a purpose only you can fill. For instance, Diana and I run this ministry together; we're both in college (the same community college, and planning to transfer to the same university.) and we have the same degree; psychology. But Diana focuses more on victims of abuse, whereas my focus is on mental illness and using art as type of therapy. See? Similar, but different, Plus we both have different perspectives to offer with different personality traits and characteristics. We're different people.
Find your purpose. It's there. Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God's workmanship [masterpiece.] Created in Christ to do good works..." And Romans 8:28 says "And we know that God works all things out for good of those who love and are called according to His purpose."
What's your purpose?
I know, you get asked that question a lot by parents and teachers and peers. "What do you want to do with the rest of your life?" It gets old. And sometimes we don't know what we want to do and that's okay. But just because we don't know our purpose doesn't mean we don't have one. It may take a while but keep searching. Find things you love and feel passionately about. Search around. Try some things out. Be adventurous! But have patience with yourself too. It'll come around eventually. And in the mean time, just keep doing what you're doing.
Every human has a purpose and a meaning in life. You are not just this flesh and bone. To quote Yoda from Star Wars, "Luminous beings are we. Not this crude matter."
Don't get so caught up in life that you forget to live. Don't get so caught up in the physical that you forget what's eternal.
You are more than this.
"Are you searching for purpose? Then write something, yeah it might be worthless. Paint something then it might be wordless, pointless curses, nonsense verses; you'll see purpose start to surface. No one else is dealing with your demons, meaning maybe defeating them could be the beginning of your meaning, friend." -Kitchen Sink, twenty one pilots