From “Embracing Your Second Calling: Find Passion and Purpose for the Rest of Your Life” by Dale Hanson Bourke
Most of us come to midlife with baggage we don’t even notice. Have you ever spotted yourself in a window or mirror and wondered who that woman is? Even though most of us look at our faces in a mirror several times a day, we still don’t have an accurate picture of who we are. We are probably far more clueless about how others view us and how our mental health affects our reactions. Just as we should have a physical checkup, I highly recommend finding a Christian counselor and having a mental checkup too. What I have learned has truly changed my emotional and spiritual life. It has saved me from repeating mistakes of the past and allowed me to move forward with an understanding of my strengths and weaknesses. It has even helped me help others in a meaningful way.
Come to a place where you can see yourself clearly, and then ask God to help you learn what you can from it. Don’t be discouraged by your faults. The sixteenth-century Christian known simply as Fenelon once said this: “Don’t be surprised at the defects in good people. God leaves weakness in all of us. In those who are advanced, the weakness is out of proportion to the otherwise mature life.” That’s a very freeing way not only to judge others more gently but also to look at ourselves.
In another passage of Everything Belongs, Richard Rohr reminds us that God is asking us “to be born again and again and again.” What he means is that our spiritual lives are not static and that our walk with God is not based on just one moment in time when we give our hearts to God. God is calling and calling us to himself. I am convinced that much of what keeps us from experiencing an exciting future is that we are holding on to the past in a way that is not godly.