Dear Kaleid Ladies,
Good morning! Thanks for being women curious about your God-given purpose. We have enjoyed the last few weeks of reflection on the topic together!
Let’s face it: we want our “purpose” to be a fixed point, a concrete reality, a thing that is known and available to us at all times. But we are human beings, and we are alive. Our being-ness means that we “are” and we “aren’t yet.” We are becoming. And so our purpose—our way of loving out of our uniqueness—can duck and hide even as we weave and grow over our lifetime.
Today, to finish this email series on seeing our purpose, we offer you two beautiful ways to bless its unknown and becoming aspects.
First is Thomas Merton’s prayer of unknowing. It reminds that we meet both ourselves and God in the questions as well as in the answers of our lives.
And second is a brief excerpt from the Heidelberg Catechism. It reminds us that our purpose always finds its grounding in our identity as those made in love, by love, and for love by our Creator.
Here’s the prayer:
My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following Your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please You. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that, if I do this, You will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust You always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for You are ever with me, and You will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen.
– Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude, page 79.
And here is the excerpt:
What is your only comfort in life and in death?
That I am not my own,
But belong -
Body and soul,
In life and in death
To my faithful Savior Jesus Christ.
Heidelberg Catechism Q & A1
For Reflection:
What stands out to you from the poem or the excerpt? How does it speak to you about your purpose or about some other part of your life today? Does it invite you to ask something new from your Creator?
As you go forward into the day, connect with the depth of love that God has for you in all of your unique gifts and limits by spending time with this passage from Romans 8 in The Message.
We love you!
Gratefully,
The Kaleid Team
P.S. – Sign up today for the Lenten Yoga Day on March 11, the StrengthsFinder workshop on April 15, or the Easter Silent Retreat on May 1! Three chances to See Yourself that you don’t want to miss!