“To do the useful thing, to say the courageous thing, to contemplate the beautiful thing: that is enough for one man’s life.”
― T.S. Eliot, The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism
I played it safe for most of my life. I have lived in a “self-protective” mode. Don’t do anything or push too hard. There is too much to lose. What if I said something that would cause people to not like me? Or worse, what if people got so worked up they wanted to get rid of me? What would I do?
I am blessed to still be young enough to change the course of my life. That’s what I am doing. No longer do I care if someone doesn’t like me. It is not that I am trying to piss people off but that is no longer a concern. As Eliot says above, to say the courageous thing as well as contemplate the beautiful is a life well lived. Perhaps it is also the path toward the useful thing. I do not want to squander the opportunity. To live in this way is to embrace the fullness of the gift of life we have been given. No one remembers playing it safe as one leaves this world. I am not sure I want to dive out of an airplane, unleashing a parachute at the right moment. But that may be a metaphor for the call which I am discerning as I move forward.
I was offered an opportunity last night to consider writing a Christian-based political column. To do so will focus my energy toward the courageous. But that is the door through which one makes a life. I am blessed to decide that I will no longer remain quiet. I will say the courageous thing. To do so I will also contemplate the beautiful. After all that is where courage begins. And that is also the only way to do the useful.
Until next time,
DP