Among the many things I come to realize every once a while, here's something that is dawning on me lately. Perhaps I might have learnt of this in other forms earlier!
Sometimes we formators and more so students (formees) carry along with us - and thereby live accordingly - a notion that doing all things right makes one a good religious, a good Salesian. Or even if one or two things are done excellently well, the rest can be give a go-by. But certainly don't find myself agreeing to that. To be an artist one does not have to be a Salesian but to be a Salesian you've got to be more than a mere artist. To be a good basketball player one surely does not need to join the Salesian congregation - much less, continue as one! But to be a Salesian, playing basketball alone, however good one might, does not suffice. I remember well now, something from the movie Patch Adams:
Sometimes we formators and more so students (formees) carry along with us - and thereby live accordingly - a notion that doing all things right makes one a good religious, a good Salesian. Or even if one or two things are done excellently well, the rest can be give a go-by. But certainly don't find myself agreeing to that. To be an artist one does not have to be a Salesian but to be a Salesian you've got to be more than a mere artist. To be a good basketball player one surely does not need to join the Salesian congregation - much less, continue as one! But to be a Salesian, playing basketball alone, however good one might, does not suffice. I remember well now, something from the movie Patch Adams:
To be a doctor does not merely mean delaying death, but improving the quality of life.So I'm asking myself, what if someone is an expert in something and something only, but lacks the other, higher, better purposes in life or more especially, is not even willing to strive to see the possibility of the existence of such higher purposes...leave alone work towards them? Frankly, he needs to reconsider his choice of being a Salesian!
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