I once asked a friend for advice when struggling with a difficult decision. He paused and said to me, "Sometimes I think life is more to be lived out than figured out." In the words of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of The Society of Jesus (Jesuits), "love is manifest more in deed than word." So, we must, as my grandfather said to my father when he too was struggling with indecision, almost to the point of paralysis, "just live." However, we also must "live justly, love mercy and walk humbly with our God."
Certainly there is truth in Plato's insight, "the unexamined life is not worth living." I would add, neither is the over-examined life. Faith is shallow and hollow without deeds. However, mere reaction, without reflection, is often similarly hollow. So what should we do? Listen, learn and then just live. Live justly.
How do we live justly? In the words of Mother Teresa, "it's not the great things we do, but the little things with great love that matter most." In the words of an anonymous aboriginal woman, "if you have come here to help us, go home; if you have come here because your liberation is bound up with mine, let's work together."
For more on living a just and liberating life, here are a few good sites:
The King Center: http://www.thekingcenter.org/
Peace People: http://www.peacepeople.com/
Peaceful Tomorrows: http://www.peacefultomorrows.org/
Aung San Suu Kyi on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/aungsansuukyi
The Freire Project: http://freireproject.org/ and
The Gandhi Institute: http://gandhiinstitute.org/
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