REALIZING OUR POTENTIAL
I remember the reactions my parents would have when I would change my career aspirations as a child. At first, I wanted to be a dentist (because my dad said I should be), then I wanted to be a nun (because my mom said I should be), and my parents would beam with pride. Then I realized a life of fixing teeth or quiet seclusion wouldn’t quite cut it for my 7-year-old self and I landed on becoming a journalist, and my parents, while confused, sighed some mild relief. Then by 10-years-old I wanted to be a screenwriter because two Gemini horoscopes said it was my destiny, and I pursued film in college. My parents sighed with disappointment and concern. However, I ultimately arrived on a path that neither my parents nor horoscope could predict and followed my discerned calling to become a mental health therapist.
While my parents were off the mark about my career, what they did tap into was my potential as a child. The path ahead seemed so limitless and the possibilities endless, which was a cause of both anxiety and excitement for the decisions I needed to make. And I noticed in our spiritual childhood, the potential is the same. Fortunately for us, we don’t have to answer the daunting childhood question of “what do you want to be when you grow up?”, since the answer is given to us in today’s first reading: “We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. Everyone who has this hope based on him makes himself pure, as he is pure.”
Our spiritual childhood potential isn’t realized in making the “right decision” for our futures it seems, but rather in our intimacy with whom we are to imitate: Jesus. And when we get to know Jesus for who He is, He guides us to be raised by Father God, whose parenting style isn’t rooted in building up expectations for us, but rather in helping us gently let go of our attachments so we become more “pure”, like His Son. Perhaps it's in this process that we slowly “grow up” to become who we’re called to be. It’s from this relationship that we can make those “right” decisions and collaborate with God to create the life that perhaps our childhood selves couldn’t even dare to dream up.
In what ways is God inviting you to realize your spiritual childhood either in “getting to know” Jesus or “letting go” of attachments?
Liz Tapang