Deacon Dan Wright

Life, Work, Vocation, and the Fullness of God

For the one whom God sent speaks the words of God.
He does not ration his gift of the Spirit.
The Father loves the Son and has given everything over to him.
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life… Jn. 3:34-36a

I awoke today feeling good that Wednesday had arrived. As the end of the school year approaches the busyness and responsibilities tend to increase. It has always been my desire and the longing of my heart that work would have a spiritual quality so that it gives life and doesn't necessarily leave me longing for the weekend.

After having my share of doubts and coming from a good two weeks or better of exhaustion my spirits were lifted. Somehow and from somewhere my inspiration returned.

Perhaps my Rosary reflections this week along with the mental task of backtracking in my memories in order to share those stories here on my blog helped me to find inspiration to move forward with more than just my writing. Last night my wife went through our book collections and found several volumes that I had purchased here and there—all of the power of positive thought variety. I had to pause for a moment and thank God for a good wife.  Among the books she brought me were my own handwritten reflections of 30 years past.  "Read these," she said, "they'll do you some good."

Momentarily I recalled myself praying in the park 15 years ago. One of those many prayers was that the Lord would help me find my vocation in life. I longed for true love, and deep within I knew that somewhere there would be that helpmate that I longed for. Naturally this too was on my mind as I sat, beads in hand, and sought the will of God. "Help me find the vocation that is your will," I prayed. Now this is now my 14^th year of marriage, but even more it is the 14^th year of the greatest vocation I could ever have hoped for. This rings true each time I look into the eyes of my wife or that I admire one of my beautiful children…and how much more has God blessed me in my ministerial vocation!

I think that it all has to do with spirit, that is, with the Holy Spirit. By his Spirit God has given me the desire to long for his Son. Furthermore, in the most amazing ways he shares that desire and longing in all of our hearts. He gives to all of us whom he calls the insatiable desire to commune with his Son, and no wonder for in Christ is the fullness; in him is life eternal—the fullness of God bodily.

I look at everything from the vantage point of where I am now in life. That's natural I suppose, but there's a bigger, better reality. The reality of life in the Spirit takes us beyond where we are now. It fills us with eternal life. It gets us in touch with Jesus and it gives meaning to this world in which we live and work.

When I began tonight's post I was impressed with the strong Trinitarian tone of the excerpt from John's gospel that I chose to start off with. It's from tomorrow's gospel. Satisfaction with life always comes back to knowing God fully. We've been given a magnificent—even inexhaustible—number of ways to begin knowing God. Those that produce fruit are the ones that encompass relating to others and knowing the God we search for in each of our brothers and sisters.

Advice Worth Repeating

A friend sent me a link to an article by email. I liked what it has has to say, so I thought I'd share it with you...

How do you know when you are being mistreated (and should do something about it), or if you are taking things too seriously/personally?

The easy answer: If one person makes you defensive, then that person is probably bad for you; if nearly everyone does, then you're probably bad for you.

You can be "bad for you" in two general ways: by seeking out relationships with highly critical people, or by taking even the most harmless remarks as criticism. Or both, I suppose, if you like your maintenance high and your relationships testy.

Both, however, share the same source. Insecurity. The fact that people are different from you — in habit, taste, culture, faith, sense of humor, sex drive, intellect, income — is not personal. It's not an insult when people don't change to please you; it's not an insult when you can't change to please someone else. Even people close to you.

If you like and accept who you are, you aren't going to fear other people's differences, or your own, as a threat. You can handle a few negative reviews.

But if you have doubts, other people become reflections of those doubts. They become the critics you need to impress to show yourself you're OK; they become the people with "potential," the ones you hope will validate you by learning to do things your way; they become the abusers who feel right and familiar and comforting because they share your low opinion of you.

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