You don't need to know your purpose to live it. You don't need to understand your purpose to live it. You don't need to know the meaning of your life either. Neither do you need to have your life's journey all figured out. You just need to walk it. In fact, I would wager that 'trying' to understand your purpose, meaning or plan erodes happiness, peace and calm.
Here, though, we have the pope, a learned man, a political man who heads the billions that make up the Catholic Church saying that "we" need to "help young people find purpose in the world." http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_NEW_YEARS_EVE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-31-13-28-55
This implies that "young people," children and "our" youth are somehow incapable of figuring this out for themselves. It implies that they need the authority (of figures like the popes, priests and politicians) and "us" faithful to live their lives - for the grown-ups in the room to saddle them with labels, analysis and concepts in order to navigate the world. According to the brief AP story (above), he seems to be tying this into the jobs market and speaking as though there is a link between "purpose" in life and survival on the material plane. They aren't the same and no, "we" don't.
The pope notes the paradox of "a culture that idolizes youth" and yet has made no place for the young. Huh? I just had a Russian emigre tell me that her granddaughter has one million 'followers' on her youtube channel on arts & crafts. Her granddaughter is 10! I should be so lucky if 10 people read this blog on any given day :). It sounds like the pope has life reversed, that we're seeing this twist in logic we often see. All this from a man who is heading a church that is dying, with parishes that are closing left, right and center? Maybe the youth could tell us a thing or two. Maybe they are the ones better poised to navigate the world that is coming. Maybe they are indeed living their purpose but in ways that are indecipherable to some still rooted very much in the past.
Here, though, we have the pope, a learned man, a political man who heads the billions that make up the Catholic Church saying that "we" need to "help young people find purpose in the world." http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_REL_VATICAN_NEW_YEARS_EVE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-12-31-13-28-55
This implies that "young people," children and "our" youth are somehow incapable of figuring this out for themselves. It implies that they need the authority (of figures like the popes, priests and politicians) and "us" faithful to live their lives - for the grown-ups in the room to saddle them with labels, analysis and concepts in order to navigate the world. According to the brief AP story (above), he seems to be tying this into the jobs market and speaking as though there is a link between "purpose" in life and survival on the material plane. They aren't the same and no, "we" don't.
The pope notes the paradox of "a culture that idolizes youth" and yet has made no place for the young. Huh? I just had a Russian emigre tell me that her granddaughter has one million 'followers' on her youtube channel on arts & crafts. Her granddaughter is 10! I should be so lucky if 10 people read this blog on any given day :). It sounds like the pope has life reversed, that we're seeing this twist in logic we often see. All this from a man who is heading a church that is dying, with parishes that are closing left, right and center? Maybe the youth could tell us a thing or two. Maybe they are the ones better poised to navigate the world that is coming. Maybe they are indeed living their purpose but in ways that are indecipherable to some still rooted very much in the past.
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