Out of step

I had the honour of attending two beautiful funerals and a wedding (perpetual promises) this summer.

The striking element, shared between all three individuals was this: imperfect people who, filled with a very out of the world joy, lived a very profound life rooted in the very challenging virtue of love, or caritas.

The cost?
They were out of step.

They reached a place where fitting in any way ceased to cross their minds. They lived their ordinary and simple lives, with the zeal of something beyond them. They emptied their selves of status, net worth, glamour, curiosity, etc, etc, etc. in order that they be filled with the gift of an abundant life deeply rooted in peace and joy. (Do we even know what that is?) And that spread unintentionally to all who encountered them, even just once. Their lives became a perpetual gift.

There are those who choose or claim to be out of step for the spotlight, and then there are those who become out of step to shine the spotlight away from them. One leaves us wanting, like a water pail with holes, but the other fills us up.

An uncomfortable oxymoron. The more we empty ourselves, the more we are filled up.

Those people inspire without knowing or trying, and challenge me to grow into more of who I am. They redirect my priorities, worries or anxieties towards what’s important. First things first. Second things, second.