Why bother writing a book? Why does any one need another book? The world is full of books. There have been too many books, most of them never should have been published. Everything has been said already. And why does the world need another painting, another necklace, another song, another band, another blog or a poem or a cookbook, another work of art, a painting, a sculpture? There is enough of it all to satisfy anyone.
The world doesn’t need another artist or even another doctor or teacher, surely there are enough by now. Newspapers, pieces of furniture, it all ends up in the trash soon, the bargain bin, forgotten. Why does the world need another church service, another church plant, another prayer meeting, another intentional community of believers? Why bother praying? Why bother fasting? Why bother sitting in silence and waiting, why bother making meals or cleaning your house, why bother reading? Gracious, giving money away is useless, what difference does sending $35 a month in child sponsorship gigs really make for the big picture anyway, sure maybe one kid, but what’s one kid in a world?
Besides does anyone need another kid? the world is full, there are too many of us, and kids, man, they are expensive, they use up precious resources. We don’t exactly need more families, surely what we have is sufficient, why bother with communities and neighbourhoods? Why bother creating, why bother making, why bother working? Vanity, vanity, all is vanity, surely this is true.
Do it anyway.
Bother.
Bother them all by creating, by making, by building, by loving, by writing, by having babies, by doing the daily work of life with joy.
Baffle them with your ferocious gentleness, with your life-giving, with your prayer, and your wonder. The world does not have enough because your part isn’t here yet, and if anything matters, everything matters, you matter, your $35 a month to a kid in Sri Lanka matters, your book, your song, your art, your family, your faith, your hunger for justice, your hands, your feet, your mind, your life, matters.
Ireneus wrote that the glory of God is man fully alive, and we all need you to be fully alive for your life. It will matter in the world, more than you can imagine or dream perhaps, a ripple effect going on and on, touching the other shore, but it will also matter because you matter.
So stop asking whether or not anyone wants it or needs it, and simply do it because you were made to do it, because it makes you fully alive to do it, because you are working out what God has already worked in, because it matters.
Sometimes I write to my own self.
The post In which I think we should do it anyway appeared first on Sarah Bessey.
And check out Sarah Bessey's critically acclaimed new book, "Jesus Feminist." “I’ve read countless books addressing the place of women in the kingdom, and I have never, ever read anything so lovely, so generous, profound and humble as Jesus Feminist. If you’re expecting anger or defensiveness or aggression, move on. If you are looking for intelligence and warmth and spirit, read this immediately." - Jen Hatmaker, author of "7: A Mutiny Against Excess" and "Interrupted"
