The Christian banker or financier will be to find realistic, technically not utopian ways of implementing jubilee amnesty; there are people doing this.

The Christian realtor or developer will find ways to house people according to need; there are people doing this.

The Christian judge will open the court system to conflict resolution procedures, and resist the trend toward more and more litigation; this is being done.

Technical vocational sphere expertise in each professional area will be needed not to reinforce but to undercut competently the claimed sovereignty of each sphere by planting signs of the new world in the ruins of the old. Baptism is one of those signs, and so is open housing. The Eucharist is one, but so is feeding the hungry. One is not more “real presence” than the other.

John Howard Yoder, Body Politics

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Compliments are nice. They make us feel good. They show us that other people are paying attention to us. Compliments are also important, and we ignore them at our own peril.

When I was 16 years old, a strange, misreported altercation with a customer almost got me fired from my first job. I went home and wrote out my defense and delivered it to my supervisor. Not only did she not fire me, she complimented me, and told me what a great writer I was.

When I was 22 years old, I sat down in the office of a mentor of mine, prepared to say a difficult and heartfelt goodbye. He told me something I’ve never forgotten. He said that I was an artist, except that my medium was people. My calling was to create beautiful art by weaving the lives of others together.

Figuring out what I’m good at has taken years of stumbling around. It’s been exhausting, feeling like I’m not good at anything. It makes me question if it’s possible to live with purpose. Over the years, I’ve discovered places where passion and ability intersect. Two of them are:

Communication. I love words, and using them to tell important stories. Whether it’s writing, speaking, or audio recording, I love how words can move intangible ideas into personal stories.

Connection. I am passionate about connecting people. When I see a disconnected person, it haunts me. It keeps me up at night. I want to them to meet Jesus, live in community, and have the resources they need. There is nothing is more exciting to me.

My dream is to build a life where I spend most of my time doing these things.

The sad truth is that I was the last person to realize this. People had been telling me what was good at for years. I wish I had paid attention.

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