It was noted that usually, conversations with a stranger begin with the question:
"What do you do for a living?" (or "How do you make a living?")
Again, the norm seems to focus on jobs or career -- and really tell us little or nothing about who the person really is. What if the question asked:
"How are you spending you life?" (or "What gives meaning to your life?")
It seems to me that what we do to "make a living" and how we decide to "make a life" can involve quite different issues.
The deeper question ultimately becomes "WHO AM I?"
Some years ago, I was in a workshop with the "free-lance" philosopher Sam Keen.
He asked us to partner with someone in the group we did not know and introduce ourselves by making 5 "I AM" statements. After we finished this exchange, he then told us to now describe to our partner how we are not those 5 statements!
In my experience, we all struggle with the question, "WHO AM I?" and probably never reach a final answer. Even the great Apostle Paul could only answer with a paradox:
I know that in me...dwelleth no good thing;
for to will is present with me, but how to perform that which is good I find not. (18)
For the good that I would, I do not;
but the evil which I would not, that I do. (19)
{Book of Romans, chapter 7 KJV}
Clearly, I need more patches on my spirituality quilt.
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