Rosie

"Everyone Has Jobs in Heaven" - K.A.

Subject: Reverend Kenneth Alden

Occupation: Pastor

I give you the first interviewee, Kenneth Alden! A pastor at the Boynton Beach Community Church and an absolutely fantastic person to kick off the blog with. Kenneth is a delightful man who comes from a long background of religious education, beginning with elementary and continuing through college. His family on both sides has worked with the church for several generations, and he thoroughly enjoys the philosophically rich teachings of the 'Faith of the New Church'. Throughout his younger years he wanted to be a doctor and never gave a spiritual career serious consideration. However, after high school he decided to go into the ministry because he felt that him teaching religion was best for the world.

When asked about finding purpose in life Kenneth responded that, "heaven is the kingdom of uses, and we often find the greatest joy in helping others." He feels true joy comes from fully engaging our minds to use our gifts to help others, along with practicing a little "give, and it shall be given onto you". The good news is that helping others also helps you feel good about yourself, and it's also apparently contagious which means more love all around.

In relation to this, Kenneth stated you must "use you freedom according to your own rationality", or rather use your freedom to make yourself happy. Unfortunately, the freedom to choose does not make the choice easy, and this freedom can actually be a curse because we are forced to make a decision. Furthermore, some people (devils) are only happy living in a self-absorbed/self-destructive environment and chose to continue living this way because it is their ultimate happiness. In Kenneth's words, this explains why there is a hell. Fortunately for all the good Samaritans out there (angels), you still have the ability to choose a good life-- "to listen to God, hear truth, and use God's life as if it's our own" (K.A.).

The real question I am interested in is how do we apply this choice to a career path, and how does one find a meaningful job while still perusing ultimate happiness? Kenneth helped demonstrate this by telling me a story about three stone masons, who when asked what they were doing replied with three very different answers. One said he was laying stone, the second said he was building a wall, and the third stated he was building a church. The first mason, which I feel represents the majority of society, viewed his job as simply that, a job (a means to put food on the table). The second mason was like number one, only he was proud of his work and took pleasure in having a satisfied customer. The third mason, although like number one and two, took it a step even further and obtained a sense of purpose through his work. This is what we all are searching for within a career-- a solid feeling that all is right with the world because we are doing what we are doing.

On the outside, Kenneth appears to be a third mason type of guy. He smiles often when talking about his work, describes his favorite scriptures with passion, and seems to have a pretty good understanding of what it takes to have a meaningful life. When asked how to obtain this feeling Kenneth modestly replied, "That's a little presumptuous. Who am I to say?" The path to finding yourself is never ending and you have to keep challenging yourself and learning new things; if we think we are there (the ultimate pinnacle of existence that is) then we start to go down that self-destructive path. We have to be useful to find meaning in life, and without it, we are just like the devils mentioned above, self-destructive and inwardly focused. Ultimately, the only way to find genuine happiness is to turn away from evil, and although you need to know where you are going with your life, the more you curb the evil tendencies the easier it is to reshape yourself.

"Not all who wander are lost." - J.R.R.Tolkien

First off, lets start at the beginning. My name is Joe Heiser and I am a 24 year old lost boy. Equipped with a college degree, a yearning for greatness, and a family that's patient and wonderful enough to support me while I wander through life, I have set out to find a sense of purpose and hopefully snag a job that I thoroughly love along the way. Unfortunately, I can see myself being many different things and applying myself fully to one has proven to be a little bit of a challenge; not due to laziness, as some have claimed, but rather a lack of passion. Although I'm still looking for the job that can incorporate my passion and sense of adventure, I figured I'd try some things out in the meantime.

Pondering this while lingering in the idleness of unemployment, I got to thinking (a dangerous past time, I know). The economy is shit right now, and I'm sure there are a lot of other people in my shoes, sitting around, unemployed, and wandering about their own life purpose. Personally, I read some "What should I be?" books, took a few personality questionnaires, and filled out a couple job placement tests before realizing that none of these told me anything I didn't know already. Just because I have no idea what to do with my life, doesn't mean I lack a strong sense of who I am or what inspires and drives me. I expected the books and quizzes to give me an epiphany stating, "You're a matador", or "You were born to be a taxidermist", but we all know life doesn't work like that and rarely does a genuine ah-hah moment occur.

So how does the ultimate passion and purpose within each person get directed into a meaningful existence? Do you just keep trying new things until something clicks and the cosmos align? I suppose that's all you can do, which kind of sucks if you're a career-vagabond like myself, but eventually after trying everything from comb capper to side walk chalk artist something will hit. And when you ultimately discover that you were destined to be a high-rise window washer, oh what windows you'll wash. What clarity and shine shall grace the world solely because of you and your window washing expertise.

Getting carried away with my fantasy. Ok, the real reason I pose the question about finding a meaningful existence is because I'm desperate to do it myself and want to know how its done. I've decided to question various people from different walks of life on their own journey discovering purpose and passion, and also if they have found it yet. Let it be known, I'm not expecting to find purpose and a meaningful existence through these interactions. An absolutely amazing fiancé, a roof over my head, food in my stomach, and an unrelenting will to find myself has already given me purpose and meaning. I'm just trying to get a job and not be bored, and if asking questions to people who have found that helps, then huzzah!