Vocation

It is a rare thing to be able to say that we have all unanimously experienced something that is the same in origin and nature. These times have been trying and continue to push us to find ourselves and our own purpose in all of this. Thus bringing be to the subject of this post. Purpose.

On March 11^th I got home from a trip with some good friends to find that the home I left was not the same I came back to. It looked the same, but it was shrouded by a cloak of concern and confusion. Eventually classes were canceled, dorms were closed, and social (I prefer the term physical) distancing began. As I made my way home on an early morning commuter rail train back to Rhode Island, I sat in sadness and frustration, I could not fathom what had happened. By the time I entered the car with my mom that sadness and frustration had turned to panic. The social structures and systems that shaped my life suddenly became painfully apparent to me as they were erased away from my life. Suddenly, I had not campus, no work, no church, nothing that could not be in my home. This was the hardest thing to process. The clear outline of what my life really is and how unprepared I was for these circumstances.

It was not until one evening when I talked with my mother that I could find footing in order to move forward. She explained to me that it was all about Purpose. My purpose before was as a student, as a teacher, as a friend but now it must be as a human. All of our purposes have been wiped and restarted as it is now our responsibility to work as a tool for others versus a weapon for ourselves. She told me to think of my grandparents, our friends and family in hospitals, those who are truly in harm’s way. Those who are forced to sacrifice every aspect of their lives and are left unable to get food, childcare, and other necessities. These people and others like them are our purpose now. To help them, to care for them so that they can care for themselves or for others. This is our purpose now.

The irony is that this was meant to be our purpose all along, it’s just that it took this pandemic for us all to realize and eventually except it. It is now the time for all people of all nations to really come together as brothers and sisters in order to put ourselves aside and be present, aware, and open for those who cannot do the same for themselves.