19 January 2020
A story.
A man dies.
This is a man who all his life waited for the day when he could retire.
Every week day morning throughout his life
he would rise at 5 am, think of all the responsibilities he had,
he longed to be free, free from responsibility, free from being “counted on.”
And so, this man dies. He goes to a wonderful place..
He wishes for entertainment–
it happens, angels who sing, angels who tumble and walk the high wire,
angels who read the lines from soap operas.
He wishes for food, – food appears, Thanksgiving every day.
It is incredible.
Finally, a man in a white coat approaches him.
“You’ve been here a while,” he says,
“We’ve been watching you as you adjust and notice that a certain sadness is overtaking you.
You have one wish for some yet unfound pleasure, and then eternity will be like this.
Think it over, I’ll be back.”
The man in the white coat comes back a day later.
“What is it that would make your life here complete?”
The man says, “I hate to say this, but I’m bored, is there anything for me to do here.
I need a job.”
The man in the white coat shakes his head: “That’s not possible here, I’m sorry.”
Well, says the man, “I might as well be in hell.”
The man in the white coat says, “Well, you are.”
Isaiah, called in his Mother’s womb,
Paul, called to be an apostle,
John the Baptizer, called to be a prophet…
Life without purpose, call, vocation, responsibility is no life at all.
For as much as each of us may gross on certain days that it is all too much for us,
having no one count on us, having nothing to contribute to the common good,
having no purpose, really is no life at all. We might as well be in hell.