Brian’s Reflection: Thursday, January 17, 2008


Dedicate some of your life to others.
Your dedication will not be a sacrifice.
It will be an exhilarating experience
because it is an intense effort applied
toward a meaningful end.

- Dr. Thomas Dooley, author, born
on this day, 1927, in St. Louis MO


A controversial figure. He was a dedicated doctor in Laos. There was an attempt to “make him a saint” in the Roman Catholic Church. It failed. He was reported to have betrayed people in Laos to the CIA. Sigh. People are complicated.

However. Tom Dooley is right. Jesus said it another way: “If you seek to keep your life, you will lose it; if you are willing to lose your life, you will keep it to eternity”. I’m a very “self-sufficient“ private” person. I could spend my life alone in a cabin in the woods. But fortunately I was drawn to a life that involved me with people – and a Christian life that called me to minister to others, to reach out to others. It’s been a challenge, but it definitely has been exhilarating. I know that my humanity has been completed by “the other”.

One has to remember though: we will never have the courage or the freedom to dedicate some of our life to others if we don’t respect our own self. Jesus could give Himself for others because He knew how deeply He was loved.

Feed your own soul. There will be much to give.

Brian+