In Harmony

I have noticed something since I have started school.  I find myself feeling more in harmony with life.  As I am reading and writing and studying, I find myself connecting concepts and ideas together and thinking critically.  This has been a skill that I haven’t had to use in my life in over a decade, and man have I missed it.  I find it easier then some of my fellow students to think of class material in new and different ways and maybe see things from a point of view that others don’t.  For instance with my educational background in history and political science, I have been able to look at some of the issues and problems in LIS (Library and Information Studies for the civilians who read this blog) from a historical or political point of view.

We just read an article in one of my classes dealing with a lack of access to libraries for African Americans in the South in the 1920’s.  Well other people were connecting this to some of the concepts that we had learned generally in class, I was able to tie this in with the Plessy V Ferguson 1896 Supreme Court Decision and the whole concept of separate but equal, and how this set the tone of the Jim Crow era South and legalized segregation. As I was writing about this I was feeling a joy.  A joy of learning and a joy of applying previously learned knowledge to my current studies.

 I am not writing this to boast, I am no better or worse then anyone else.   I am writing this because I finally feel like I am in harmony with a major gift that God has blessed me with.  He has blessed me with a brain and the ability to think critically and connect ideas together.  I am studying now so that I can embark on a career where I utilize my God given gifts.  I also want to be careful to use my gift(s) not to glorify or puff up my own ego or career, but to glorify Him.  I want to be able to use my intellect to serve and make a difference for the better for others.  I want to do this to show the Lord how much I love him, and have joy in serving him.

In the job that I am in now, I am able to use my empathy to help people.  But I often feel “out of harmony” or out of sync.  While I am here I want to help others and make a difference, but it doesn’t feel the same.  I am out of my element in my current job, but that doesn’t mean that I use that as an excuse to shirk my responsibilities and not to do my best.  It is just more of a challenge at times to find my work fulfilling personally.  With school this isn’t much of a challenge, I love what I am doing, and knowing why I am doing it.  To better my life, but also to be able to someday have an impact and be able to reach out to other people and serve them while using my God given talents and gifts. That is living in harmony.

13 “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know the day or the hour. 14 For it is like a man going on a journey, who summoned his slaves and entrusted his property to them. 15 To one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. 16 The one who had received five talents went off right away and put his money to work²⁷⁰ and gained five more. 17 In the same way, the one who had two gained two more. 18 But the one who had received one talent went out and dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money in it. 19 After a long time, the master of those slaves came and settled his accounts with them. 20 The one who had received the five talents came and brought five more, saying, ‘Sir, you entrusted me with five talents. See, I have gained five more.’ 21 His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful in a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 22 The one with the two talents also came and said, ‘Sir, you entrusted two talents to me. See, I have gained two more.’ 23 His master answered, ‘Well done, good and faithful slave! You have been faithful with a few things. I will put you in charge of many things. Enter into the joy of your master.’ 24 Then the one who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Sir, I knew that you were a hard man, harvesting where you did not sow, and gathering where you did not scatter seed, 25 so I was afraid, and I went and hid your talent in the ground. See, you have what is yours.’ 26 But his master answered, ‘Evil and lazy slave! So you knew that I harvest where I didn’t sow and gather where I didn’t scatter? 27 Then you should have deposited my money with the bankers, and on my return I would have received my money back with interest! 28 Therefore take the talent from him and give it to the one who has ten. 29 For the one who has will be given more, and he will have more than enough. But the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken from him. 30 And throw that worthless slave into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matthew 25: 13-30). (Parable of the Talents.)