Deconstructed

"Meaning relates strongly to our sense of place - as someone who is known and valued".
Martin Robinson.



What truly defines you?
What marries you to the life you have, the world you live in?

In a time when we have so many ways to express so much, what breaks through the grey and makes each morning worth something?

When it's someone else - being a parent, a creator, a facilitator - we know a deep pull to do so much, but what happens when our world cuts us from these roles to leave us no more than something living purely to feed our greed or vanity?

It matters because we're living in a time when what we think matters, particularly about ourselves, appears to top everything else - in other words, even our connection to what's outside is determined by our inner voice of what is, firstly, what we want. Everything else has to be negotiated and received (or sternly rejected) on that basis. What, in effect, this means is that we are not changed by others, by considering the broader picture, but all has to be submissive to us.

So what happens when something comes along that can really make a difference - open us to a far better world - and we entirely miss it because we are so wrapped in ourselves?

There's a superb short story movie that illustrates this really well.

Jesus spoke of how in order to save ourselves, we have to loose ourselves. We have to let go of what we believe we're all about to find something of infinitely more value in what we are.

Moving beyond the superficial today isn't easy - it's often so deeply embedded that it is like giving up what we really are - but it is vital if we're to see and understand what really counts.

Look beyond what's popular, what merely suits ourselves, and we begin to open a door to a much larger world.