Copyright 2016 Lori Hadorn-Disselkamp Copyright 2016 Lori Hadorn-Disselkamp

 

Each of us were granted different gifts by God to be used to serve God and others. Many of us find it difficult to discern those gifts and the best way to use them. I have been reading in my course work about discernment. I came across the story of a poet who was approached by a budding poet who had been rejected many times (it sounded so familiar). He asked the young poet to think about the following questions: If you could not write, would you die? Must you write?

My answer was: yes, I must write. I can’t think of a time in life when I did not write daily since third grade, when I wrote my first poem and fell in love with writing. Why do I write?

To express my thoughts
To organize my ideas
To remember
To renew my soul
To understand my motives
To reveal my inner self
To move others closer to God
To love
To accept
To give
To open myself
To receive
To process information
To create
To be authentically who I am
To give back to God
To center myself
To find, discover, and seek God
To reach out to self, others, God, future generations
To comfort
To infuriate
To ruffle feathers
To inspire
To breathe
To live
To be who God created me to be.

Reflect on the gifts that God has given you. Which gifts could you not live without? What gifts MUST you use? Write out a list of why you use those gifts and see where it leads you…

Copyright 2016 Lori Hadorn-Disselkamp