Contemplata Aliis Tradere

(image from here)

I told you about a week ago, that I was chew-ing on the idea of living in community. Despite the fact that an official discussion of the topic has been postponed, my thoughts surrounding it have not ceased. I've been thinking much on Eugene Peterson's translation of 1 Corinthians 12:20, that "no matter how significant you are, it's only because of what you are a part of."

It's been a twenty-something temptation of mine to hone in too much on what I am good at, what gifts I posses, what career path I should take...failing altogether to see that I am only a part of the whole. Maybe, just maybe, I exist to do something for the larger scope of humanity outside of finding satisfaction in my own work and life. I have this hunch that in my discovery of which role I play, I am being pointed to see how those things might serve to meet the needs of others, to serve in a more selfless capacity. Oh, let it be so.

I've thought also on this, St. Thomas' idea of contemplata aliis tradere, and what it is "to share with others the fruit of contemplation." There is worth in sitting silently. Meditation on scriptures has great merit. But, perhaps Bonhoeffer is on to something when he purports that God has put His Word in the mouths of men. Or that there's something to the thought that the Church exists, in part, to simply remind each other of the Truth.