Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Too Balanced?

Around the time I was about to graduate from high school and enter college, I had a momentary breakdown. I actually cried for a brief moment (I am not a crier) as I took an inventory of my life and questioned whether I had made the right decisions up to that point. I questioned the wisdom of all my decisions. Part of what prompted that "breakdown" was the fact that I was attending my back-up school instead of my first choice school. Also, I was not sure if I was actually following my dreams or was on the correct path for my life.

Fast forward four years. I am about to move from university into the "real world". Glancing into the rearview mirror of my life, I realize that I have loved the past four years of college. I met the best friends I have ever had and have enjoyed the college experience more than I could have ever imagined.

Now I am at the re-evaluation stage of life. What am I doing? Has my life really impacted anyone? Am I actually trying hard enough to incorporate Christ-like love into my daily life?

I am haunted by my own apathy when it comes to the pain and suffering of those around me. Shouldn't I be overwhelmed by compassion or a sense of urgency to fight poverty, injustice, the destruction of the environment, famine, racism, and all the other suffering in the world? Instead, I obsess about work, school, relationships, the future, and more.

Here comes the hard part. I do have to be concerned about my life and well-being. Work, school, relationships, and the future are all important. I can't give up everything and devote myself to one cause at the expense of everything else in my life. There has to be some sort of balance.

Someone I respect often says "If you are balanced in everything, you will be radical in nothing".

I want to be radical. I want to make a difference. I want to care.

Thoughts? What do you do to ensure you are not so balanced that you are immobile and ineffective as a Christian or a human being?

2 comments:

The Blogger said...

This is a great post. I think what you describe we all go through at one point or another...the sense of one's own significance and the meaning of life...the big picture.

You might enjoy Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl. You might also enjoy Irresistible Revolution by Shane Claiborne. I finished reading it recently, and it was very thought-provoking...what is possible? If we don't fear to truly ask that question and pursue its answer into the places where we're led.

Blessings on the journey

MR said...

I used to be balanced and un-radical. For over 10 years I was in the same job, house, and church. I hid my attraction to men and everything in my life looked good on the outside, but I was very unhappy on the inside.

Then I gained a very radical (straight) friend who motivated me to change. I saw that he was having a real impact on people and I wanted the same for my own life. In the last few years I have lived in 4 different cities all over the U.S., I have been open about my desires for men, and I have gained many friends who also struggle with same sex desires.

One thing that helped me become more radical was hanging out with radical people. Another was praying for people I saw who had needs and asking God to put a love in my heart for them. God did exactly that and that love motivated me to radical action.