Thoughts at 45: I am me, not who you wish I was

After all the fun posts, time for some seriousness. Some of you may think, "He's having a midlife crisis." No, far from it! First of all, I'm not at midlife! It's not here yet! And if it is, it's midlife happiness!

One great thing I've benefited from reading Thomas Merton (Trappist monk) is a freedom to be me. No front, no trying to be a certain way because it's what everyone else wants -- no, I have the absolute freedom and joy in Christ to be ME. A redeemed me, thank God, but me with no pretense. Lionel Richie sang it well:

Why in the world would anybody put chains on me,
I've paid my dues to make it,
Everybody wants me to be what they want me to be,
I'm not happy when I try to fake it, no

I've never been happy trying to be someone that someone else wants me to be. God made me who I am. And at 45, I'm very comfortable with that (except my tendency to sin....!).

My friends, whether you feel comfortable calling yourself a Christian, or not -- yourself is the best. God does not make mistakes. There will always be people in the world who have THEIR idea of who you should be -- what you should think, how you should feel, what you should do, who you should be. My whole life, people have tried (with good intentions, I'll give 'em that) to define me, and mold me into their image of me. I'm sorry, and I really shouldn't apologize -- but the best me is the person God made me to be, serving Him and other people the best that I can, doing the things He's called me to do, and being the person He made.

We aren't the same people. God made us different. But, we're both precious in His eyes. He created you and me very unique and special. I like the me He made (except, as I said before, without the tendency to sin -- but God didn't put that in me).

As Merton would say, be yourself. And be yourself for God and you. When you do that, then you can be yourself for other people. But be you. And be happy.


Blessings,
Fr. Francis