Just coming out of the Easter Season with all its traditions of chocolate eggs, rabbits and hunts, I reflect on the strict relevance of the period in the life of the Christian believer: the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and, in effect, the parallel of that reality to our own existence. In actuality, to the one who professes Christianity as faith, the Easter Season is and should be every season of one's life: a constant taking up of one's cross, dying to self and resurrecting purpose, generic or specific to the individual. By 'generic' purpose of the believer, I refer to mandates such as that which we have come to know as The Great Commision - the edict in Matthew 28:19 which asks us to 'go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.' By purpose that is 'specific', I refer to the considerations and choices I make in my professional development, for instance, as to whether to spend the majority of my time, and life, cultivating my managerial experience and prowess in various industries (because that has predominantly been my career track so far and is a seemingly more financially prudent direction to take, comparatively, especially in my part of the world), or pursuing my passion for musical theatre through music composition, scriptwriting, theatre production and directing, or, perhaps, seeing the former as a stepping stone for the latter, or several other iterations or combinations of these two options).
At once it has gotten personal. And why ever not? Jesus Christ laid himself bare on the cross and by virtue of that act, left himself exposed to public shame and mockery which in all frankness was due to nothing but sheer ignorance of the import of his sacrifice which was ultimately meant to benefit the very people who mocked him - eternal salvation. And don't we do this today? We mock what we don't understand. We belittle the journeys of others if it doesn't stack up to our own narrow views of accomplishment and success, not realizing that ultimate success is actually walking in your calling, in your purpose, whether others understand it or not. And so I make things personal, I get vulnerable, because I have an example, the most noble and notable example there ever was, and I pray you to respect me in my vulnerability and give yourself the permission to also be vulnerable when needed. It is true that some people seem very assured of that thing called the individual purpose for their lives (they can literally name it and frame it), but it is also true that some people may not, and both circumstances are perfectly fine. It is a journey and what I believe is important is the process of searching or 'seeking'. I am always thrilled about cinematic depictions of notable people who have walked this earth and have accomplished unimaginable feats: I recall the story of Diana Nyad who was famous for having swam the approximate 2-day distance from Havana, Cuba to Key West, Florida (without a swimming cage) against all odds including stormy weather putting one at risk of being lost at sea, and shark and jelly-fish attacks which could potentially lead to death. Although the Guiness World Records revoked Nyad's achievement due to incomplete documentation, conflicting crew reports and others, it is quite remarkable that a 60-year-old would, after an almost 30-year hiatus decide to train and attempt to achieve this feat over the next five years, finally achieving it, to whatever extent, on her fifth attempt at the age of 64. Just take a look at the results a conviction of one's purpose can yield.
And so we are back to vulnerability. I have been writing poems, songs and stories for as long as I can remember. In fact, my mum always reminds me that she had mentioned, from time to time, that I could be a scriptwriter. As common as this profession actually is, I somehow never really saw it a viable option. Although this talent actually has materialized into my writing of at least 3 original full-length scripts for my company, The Indigen Group, I can not confidently state, at this point, that it is a primary feature in my professional life which I would claim should be part of that composite we would deem as 'purpose'. And perhaps, it's not meant to be; perhaps there's actually a bigger part in my life that songwriting, instead, has to play: the search continues and it all remains to be seen. I am grateful for organizations like Triga Ventures that accepted me into their faith-based accelerator last year where I learnt the very important lesson of faith-work integration versus seeing the two as separate areas. It is only through programs like this that I could begin to see my workplace, my business, my profession as not only that but actually as a ministry. Through the mentors I interacted with and the content of the program, my mind has expanded to not limit the boundaries of my business and my ministry. In the same way that we have a multi-faceted and multi-dimensional God, so too can there be a multi-dimensional character and quality to our purpose. Not only will The Indigen Group be evolving to include a technology arm, we are now welcoming original musical theatre submissions from the general public to support the not-for-profit structure of this side of the business (follow us and our journey to stay updated on all of these developments). We do believe that God's children will thrive wherever they find themselves and that all professions they find themselves in are therefore viable.
And so I pose the question to you: is there some aspect of your purpose that remains to be unearthed or resurrected? Do you have a skill, talent or interest that you have left lying dormant in your life because you could see no place for it? The example of Diana Nyad tells us that one is never too old to live out one's purpose. Thus, I urge you to just GO! You don't need an inner circle to validate or reinforce what you do. You don't need anyone to allude to your success before you continue. Even if no one is watching or applauding, go ahead. You may be concerned that you might fail or deem yourself to have failed in certain areas....but I would ask you a question: was the creation of man a failure? Why did an All-Knowing God create the world and man if he knew that man would fall? The answer lies in the fact that the nature of God is one that loves Conquest, Creativity and Challenge. We are, also, made in his image and likeness. And He certainly was not threatened by the idea of a fall.