What brings you life, fuels your passion, gives you energy? What special talents or gifts have you been
given that make the world a more beautiful, loving hopeful place in which to
live? Internationally-known
author, lecturer, and Benedictine sister, Joan Chittister encourages readers to
consider these questions to lead us to happiness. “When we finally take that first step toward
being honest about what we ourselves really believe, really want to do, really
enjoy most, are really most committed to doing for others—and do it—we become a
person who is a gift to the rest of the human race” (pg. 99).
Following the Path: The Search for a Life of Passion, Purpose, and Joy invites us
to look at our God-given talents, our innate passions, and how using our gifts
in order to help others. She explains
how taking action using our talents to do something purposeful that helps
others is what will lead us to having a genuinely satisfying life.
Another important
message conveyed is that it’s never too late.
Some people feel that they can’t possibly go in a completely new
direction when it comes to their education, career, ministry, hobbies…, but Joan
illustrates that simply isn’t true.
Discovering our purpose and how we can use who we are and what we have
to help others is a life-long process.
We grow, learn more about ourselves, and how our strengths can be used
to make life better for others.
Following your
call rather than falling back on what you know and can do that will most likely
lead to a life that’s successful in the world’s eyes certainly goes against the
grain. It may very well baffle your
family and friends, but it can bring more energy to your own life and inspire
those you serve in ways only God could bring about.
At times there
are so many hypothetical situations and scenarios considered, I felt that the
potency of the main message became watered down in a sense. It may very well be that other readers find
it helpful to have such a variety of examples of what a call is and how it can
be lived out.
Following the Path serves as a good overview of what a call is, how to live it
out, and why that purposeful activity leads to true happiness and fulfillment
regardless of what stage of life and/or type of discernment you are in at
present.
To read more about, Following
the Path: The Search for a Life of Passion, Purpose, and Joy, click here. I received this book for free from
WaterBrook
Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.
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