If we knew how much influence we truly could have, we might take God more seriously and collaborate with His plan to be who He intended us to be and be busy about His work as He intended us to carry it out.
We each are a voice of the new evangelization and, if we but had the faith, we would use every legitimate means to carry it out.
But we often get stuck in an egocentric mindset, which leads us to show what we can do on our own without God’s help, or we are held back by fear – again trusting only in ourselves, believing we have little to offer.
Some of us are too much in love with our intellects and thoughts. Having a strong intellect and brilliant thoughts should only serve to make us more humble. Or to at least make us question how our thoughts come to be.
We cannot really take credit for our thinking ability. Initially, that faculty is a given. It is part of the package God endowed us with. We can take credit for the thoughts we cultivate, however. How we prepare the ground with seeds for future growth is within our domain.
And there are some of us, who at times, think too little of our own thoughts, our thinking ability and the words we spew out. Here, again, it’s a matter of taking what was granted to us and using it too casually, profanely or not using it at all.
Actually, we all are, at different times, all of these take-it-for-granters. We move back and forth between adoration of our thinking or position on various matters and idle or wasteful consumption of our God-given intellectual abilities.
The one we toy with, the other we use blissfully unaware. And why?
I think the answer is we are afraid. Afraid to take our thinking seriously, and humbly speak the truth because that would mean being the real thing and taking ownership. That would mean stepping into ourselves and being accountable – for better or worse. We could possibly make a mistake or even succeed. For many, either prospect – being corrected or congratulated – is frightening.
The fear of success or failure is based on different reasons but comes down to one root. To succeed in one venture – to really succeed – puts pressure on us to succeed once again. It commits us to act again. And should we fail, then we think that makes us a fake, and our first success a fraud. If we should fail the first time out, then we feel paralyzed by self-doubt and lack of self-worth. And so we sit immobilized. The problem in all this thinking is that it comes down to matter of what I can or can’t do, when we should really be thinking about what God wants and can do through us.
It’s easy to sit back and criticize those who take a chance and stick their necks out. It’s also easy for those who don’t have a clue as to what they’re doing to jump into any and everything without a second thought. Both extremes are not helpful and serve to skew the truth that we ALL need to be thoughtful, engaging participants.
Dilettantes, wallflowers and those who run at the mouth make it unnecessarily difficult to advance the conversation. The purpose of thinking and language is to serve the truth. To recognize it, understand it and proclaim it. To grasp, praise and adore our God.
That doesn’t mean every little thing that we utter has to be solemn, religious or profound. But it should mean our thinking and conversations taken as a whole tend toward truth and keep us close to that Mystery of mysteries.
If we truly loved one another, then we wouldn’t be so prone to the pressure or urge to play it safe, strike an attitude or try to achieve some coolness effect in our relationships. These artificial approaches amount to preserving, protecting or building up our ego, our image.
It takes great humility and courage to honor our gifts and recognize our limitations – and still take our place in our families, in the workplace, in our various communities and circles of friends.
But God is depending on it. He’s depending on you to be you and show up. Because you have something to contribute.
No matter where you work, what groups you’re part of, your hobbies, or avocations, He’s depending on you to radiate and speak His Presence, the truth. You as an individual are God’s vessel and mouthpiece wherever you are or go. Wherever and however you make your presence and inspired view known.
And that’s central to the new evangelization.