BE
Written by Chia Poh Fang when she was fresh out of University. Ten years have since elapsed.
Finding the right work is like discovering your own soul in the world. —Thomas Moore
What should I be? Should I be a writer, a civil servant, or …? Somehow as I seek the Lord’s will concerning my future, all my queries seem to hover around the word “be”. So I search the thesaurus for the synonyms of the word “be” and this is what I found:
Entry: be
Function: verb
Definition: exist
Synonyms: abide, act, be alive, breathe, continue, do, endure, go on, have being, have place, hold, inhabit, last, live, move, obtain, persist, prevail, remain, rest, stand, stay, subsist, survive
Antonyms: die, pass away, perish
Concept: aliveness
Function: verb
Definition: exist
Synonyms: abide, act, be alive, breathe, continue, do, endure, go on, have being, have place, hold, inhabit, last, live, move, obtain, persist, prevail, remain, rest, stand, stay, subsist, survive
Antonyms: die, pass away, perish
Concept: aliveness
The discovery caused me to examine the soundness of my questions. Why am I defining my aliveness by the job that I hold? This idea seems to purport a life where its centrifugal life-defining force is in one’s profession. Much as many of us reject this idea because it sounds heretical to our religious ears, yet in our seeking of the Lord’s will concerning our profession, the question that bothers us the most is: What should I be—a teacher, a writer, an engineer, or …?
What should we do then? Perhaps, a replacement of the word “be” with its synonyms may yield some answers. Instead of asking “What should I be?” or “Who should I be?”, we could ask:
What should I abide by?
What should I hold on to?
What should last?
What should stay?
Who should prevail?
What should I hold on to?
What should last?
What should stay?
Who should prevail?
The answers to these questions could clear the cloud of apprehension in our job search and point us in specific directions as to what should ultimately define our life and thereby our career choice. Similarly, by asking questions using the antonyms, we could draw out certain perimeters in our job search. For example:
What should I die to?
What should pass away?
What should perish?
What should pass away?
What should perish?
These questions help us discover the things that we ought to steer clear from in our job seeking, so that we are not led astray from the things that truly matter in life.
What do I want to be? I’m still unclear if I will ever find a job that I will stay long in, or a job that I will enjoy doing. However I do know that the job in itself must not define my life. In whatever post that I may eventually hold, I’m a pilgrim pursuing His kingdom first. I will abide by His kingdom values; I will hold on to my relationship with Jesus; I will last as a sanctified disciple. Jesus must prevail in my life.
Footnote: Has Poh Fang found a job she would stay long in? Yes. She is currently working in RBC Ministries and has been in this organization since October 2006. Does she enjoy her work? The answer: A resounding “YES”!
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