Dream & Discover by "Doing, Being, Becoming"

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than the ones you did do. So throw away the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Dream. Discover." (Mark Twain)

Before theological education, I was much of a doer, defining myself in terms of the works I do. During theological school, I was reminded time and again not to fall too much into that work-driven passion of self-definition, to move from merely DOing to BEing. So, as I approach the end of my current phase of theological learning, I am faced with the temptation to speak the common cliché, "Life needs a balance of both." Absolutely not. Whether it is DOing or BEing, or both, or none, the main thrust of a Christian life is to discern where and what and how the Holy Spirit is leading us. Not mere doing for it may make us to define self based on works. Not mere BEing for it may lead us towards passive admiration of self. Neither is it a 'balance' of DOing and BEing for it makes us more like a manager. Instead, I think BECOMING is a better word, for in it there are elements of growing as a Christian, taking on a journey and most importantly, a life that is dependent on the guidance and leading of the Holy Spirit. Like Mark Twain, we need to dream and discover courageously. Only in the Holy Spirit can we say, "I am not afraid, for God is with us."

Mark Twain's statement is a call for us to fulfill our dreams, and not to wait until it is too late. We must learn to dream and to discover life. It is a quiet prompting that we do not know how long we are going to live. I have always been disturbed when people become so busy that they forget the essential stuff of life. Coffee time has to be scheduled. Meeting with a friend has to be jotted down in an appointment calendar. Time to enjoy one another's company has to be confirmed. Busyness is increasingly a synonym for business. It will be sad that one day when a person breathes his last few breaths, and regret not spending more time doing what he/she has always wanted to do. No one on the death bed ever wished he/she had spent more time at work. Hardly any regretted not completing more business deals. Most will tend to bemoan the lack of effort to bond in their closest relationships.

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