As all good Catholics (and once-upon-a-time Catholics and students of history) know, today is All Saints Day. It’s a day to honor the saints in heaven, and the people we love who have gone on before – whether or not they actually achieved sainthood.
It’s also a day we can consider our own spiritual path, and our own spiritual aspirations. A good day to take stock.
Most of us want to be good people. But life goes by so quickly, sometimes our more intangible goals get pushed aside in our quest to achieve career and financial goals, or the goals we’ve set around relationships, parenting, and the things we want to do and buy.
Some years ago I was invited to consider and write down my life’s purpose. It took a while to distill, because of course I, like most people, have lots of things I hope to do in life. Eventually, though, I was able to enunciate my life purpose: I am here to be a clear channel of God’s love in the world.
That sounds pretty ambitious, doesn’t it? Maybe even pretentious. But it’s really quite simple. In all the work I do, all the times I play, every interaction I have with other people, I can pause for a moment and ask myself, am I open and channeling divine love into the world? Am I sharing unconditional love, and joy, and a sense of peace and hope?
The answer isn’t always “yes,” of course. I frequently fall short of my goal. But over the years, by remaining conscious of my overriding intention in life, I am more and more able to stay on course. My life becomes richer, and the lives of those I touch become richer. Clarity is a powerful thing.
If it’s been a while since you’ve considered the spiritual aspect of your life, today’s a great day to do so. After all, achieving sainthood isn’t usually a huge dramatic event; it’s simply a series of small choices and actions. Saints aren’t perfect people – there are no perfect people, as we all well know. Saints are you and I, living our lives one step at a time.