An example like no other
HIS coming was long foretold; it was much anticipated; but when it finally happened, it was known to only a select few.
Prophets foretell; many prophets foretold his coming. The chosen people were waiting for centuries for him to burst forth into the world. But when Christmas finally happened, only a few shepherds, a carpenter, and His virgin-mother heralded the event.
Both in the foretelling and in actually living out his life, his life-time mission was crystal clear. It was nothing less than to save the world and humanity from the greatest evil of all, the slavery of sin, and from exile into the valley of tears.
Indeed, the lesson we can learn from Jesus Christ is that every one of us has a mission. His was the loftiest and most game-changing of all. Nonetheless, each one of us has our own personal mission; and it is up to us to discover what it is. All the gifts and limitations we have, and all the events and circumstances of our life have a role in shaping and defining our personal mission.
But as we have learned under personal governance, our personal mission is life-long. We have a whole life time to carry it out and accomplish it; and the love we put into carrying it out and accomplishing it is the measure by which our entire life is to be weighed.
In this regard, in the love with which he carried out his mission, Jesus Christ is our example without anyone coming anywhere close. He laid down his life in order to accomplish his mission, and as he said himself, there can be no greater love than this: that a person lays down his life for his friends, for others, for all.
From such an example of love, we draw the lesson of investing as much love as we possibly can when we pursue a vision at different periods of our life in full consistency with our life-long personal mission. If love is the measure for accomplishing our mission, that same measure should be used---and therefore we should invest as much love as we can into it---for attaining our vision at different stages of our life. From the example of Jesus Christ, we draw a few broad features of the love with which to pursue our vision:
• Do the will of another rather than our own (In Christ’s case, it was always the will of his Father that he heeded, and not his own).
• Choose to have less rather than more (he had nowhere to lay down his head).
• Seek always the lowest place, and serve the needs of everyone (he made himself into bread for everyone).
These are tough to follow. They are rough features (as articulated by Thomas a Kempis). But that is the supreme and best example we have. It is the ultimate example out there for all of us to imitate, i.e., desire that the will of God be fulfilled entirely in our life and work. They lead to peace. They are effective. They may go against the grain. But they are the guidelines for exemplary success in attaining a personal vision.