In college I took a number of sculpture classes. I imagined myself a professional artist one day sculpting away making a handsome amount of money, or at least enough to live comfortably on. Then I realized how few sculptors actually made a living doing that. At the time however I was taking the formless scraps of clay, or idle chunks of metal, sometimes even wax, or sandstone and giving shape and new meaning to otherwise ordinary pieces of miscellaneous “things”. I was giving shape and new life to objects. I felt in control and I felt like a creator.
Life is different today. Today rather than shaping things I am very aware of what shapes my life.
Oh I suppose I still help shape other things, people’s lives, the pathways to the sacred they may be on are, hopefully shaped by my words and thoughts. I trust I am shaping the lives of those I am in relationship with, either through family or by calling. But I am caught in a place that begs the question, “who is shaping whom?” In other words am I shaping the lives of others or are their lives shaping mine? Which is dominant? And, then the even larger question, what is the dominant influence that shapes my life?
Look around a little. Think about the people you observe. What shapes their lives? Is the man who collects the garbage for the city shaped by what he does, or the desire to serve, or his desire to have enough money to fish on weekends or provide an education for his children? Maybe his life is most dominated by a desire to provide for his family and do whatever it takes to care for an ailing wife? And maybe he does all those things and still seeks most to serve at his local church? Maybe he is truly driven or shaped by a desire to share compassion and love with all he comes in to contact with?
What shapes your life? Recently a colleague of mine made the comment, “whatever gives shape to a person’s life is their god.” In other words whatever a person allows to dominate their life, be it feelings for another person, money or the accumulation of wealth, a hobby, or an ideal such as compassion, high ethical standards, or the pursuit of justice for all people; that is their god. It may also be their devil.
Throughout our years of growth and maturity we are all influenced, or shaped by, multiple factors. Parents, our surroundings, and the friends we choose; but eventually we allow a single factor or combination of influences to become the dominant factor in what we choose to do and why we choose to do it. For many it is, or becomes, a religious practice. The teachings of Jesus, the Tao, Buddhist teachings, the ways of indigenous people of this American continent; are all ways that we are led to God. They are ways that we have chosen to commit our lives to becoming better citizens of this planet. They are the dominant factors that we have chosen to shape our lives.
Sometimes it is unfortunate that the dominant shaping factors have become so over institutionalized that it becomes the institution that shapes life. The institution has then become an idol blocking the ability to live the teachings the institution longs to teach.
Each of us still has the opportunity to pick up the pieces, make a conscious decision, and sculpt the future. You do have the ability to choose what shapes your life. Choose well friend.
Blessings to you!
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