A friend of mine survived another round of job cuts at General Motors.

After the early retirements and thinning out of half his department, what relief when the angel of death skipped over his cube… 

While I was certainly happy for him - I had to confess I wasn’t surprised.

When hiring people, two qualifications many employers look for are punctuality and attitude: can the employee get there on time, and are they genuinely positive about the work?

My friend has both, but especially the second - he loves his job, drops everything to take on new projects, rarely complains, and is an exemplary team player. His job connects with his gift and enjoyment of problem-solving. 

Sure, he does it for the paycheck, but also because engineering is deeply satisfying.

Howard Thurman famously wrote, “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

On Sunday, we’ll hear a fascinating story of Jesus calling his first disciples. 

We know Peter, James, and John were not singularly learned nor accomplished theologians.

However, it seems they were in touch with what made them come alive: the story says they dropped everything, career and family, to follow.

It makes us consider that our greatest satisfaction comes when we, too, are taken with the pursuit of that which makes us most fully alive.

Perhaps, then, our most profound human task is to discover, hone, and share that which most deeply enlivens us.

After all, the one thing, the only thing, that you and nobody else can do, is to identify, shape, and share that one thing that only we have been given - that most enlivens us.

Own it. Hone it. And loan it - with no expectation of return - freely we were given, freely we give.

Lord, help us drop the nets. Look inside and follow. What the world needs is people who have come alive.