May, 2023
Beloved,
What is your Ikigai, pronounced (ee-key-guy)? I’ve heard this word all my life from teachers, elders, and bosses; Ikigai becomes the topic for the evening almost every night whenever people in Japan go out and get drunk. Regardless of the different situations each of us comes from, our tipsy foggy brains always land on this question – what is Ikigai supposed to mean? Unable to come to a consensus, we continue debating it at a bar as if we are a bunch of philosophers. It’s a Japanese word and a concept, which The Oxford English Dictionary translates as “a motivating force; something or someone that gives a person a sense of purpose or a reason for living.” While various interpretations on the internet emphasize happiness, the ultimate goal of Ikigai is more to do with knowing what it is for which you live. So let me ask again. What is your Ikigai?
I think of mine often, but when I do, I often feel lost, failing to satisfy my hunger for the truth.
“Here we are living in a complex world in which thousands who have been ‘won to Christ’ haven’t the slightest notion how to live a happy life or how to live together with other people without making each other miserable [1928].”
― Reinhold Niebuhr, Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic
Niebuhr, the father of the famous Serenity Prayer, comforts me in his book a great deal, teaching me that I am not alone in this loss. Niebuhr got frustrated, feeling hypocritical about himself for having to preach love and hope from the pulpit while he wrestled with this question. When you think of it, others speak of a similar conundrum. Henry David Thoreau once said, “Most men lead their lives of quiet desperation.” Even a famous Trappist monk, Thomas Merton, prayed, “Lord, I have no idea where I am going….” I don’t even know how many times I said that prayer myself!
As much as I feel at a loss with this big life question, I made peace with comfort, knowing that I am not alone on this spiritual journey. Despite feeling lonely or left out for not feeling satisfactory, Ikigai, like the next-door neighbor at times, I understand Jesus clearly defines our purpose of existence as his followers. In Matthew 22:37-38, he teaches his disciples, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Our Christian Ikigai is to try to live accordingly. Our purpose is to dedicate our lives to loving God AND OUR NEIGHBOR. We may prefer to do it only sometimes due to our differences or fail to do so repeatedly. However, our Christian responsibility – Ikigai – is to follow Jesus’ footsteps by obeying these New Commandments. Hopefully, God sees that we try however clumsily we strive it. We need more love and compassion, especially in this divided time. As we move forward, I pray that you and I work together to continue developing a loving and compassionate Christian community. “Life is short. We don’t have much time to gladden the hearts of those who walk this way with us. So, be swift to love and make haste to be kind.” ― Henri-Frédéric Amiel.
Amen.
Fr. Andrew
