Purpose seems to come in two flavors these days. One comes with rhetoric, gestures, and many kinds of signals. You know that the individuals are expressing her/his intent to do something. This purpose is filled with hope, anticipation, and expectation. The one weakness is that this purpose is missing the ingredient that is now considered an “old” form of purpose. The missing element is action. I remember my grandfather’s stories of men filled with purpose. Usually the first evidence was when they took a decision and acted decisively. If one had studied the man, you knew what was going to happen. There was no surprise and yet nobody talked about his or her purpose until it was tangibly real.
I miss those days. I long to discuss purpose in the context of outcomes and movements. When Peter “described how the Master had gotten him out of jail, then said, ‘Tell James and the brothers what's happened.’ [Writer’s noted that] he left them and went off to another place.” (Acts 12.17) Peter was filled with purpose. It was real. It could be measured. Hope was realized.
The world that you and I live in needs individuals with purpose. At the very least, others get to react to something tangible. Ideally, when the purpose is filled with compassion, mercy, and love, the world moves towards being a better place. Purpose makes a difference. Purpose shapes the lives of those around us as well as our souls. We may not always succeed, yet the process of striving and reaching impacts our being in a positive way.
We are a time that promises change and a better tomorrow. Regardless of our ideals, unless individuals decide to move on the hope, nothing will be different than it was. Today’s dawn gives you and I a fresh window of opportunity. We can touch others, enriching their lives with a smile and our actions. We can deliver hope, by engaging deeply in the process of living. We can give others the knowledge that living with purpose is more than speaking the right words.
