purpose

If you dare to believe that you are beloved before you are born,
you may suddenly realize that your life is very, very special.

You become conscious that you were sent here just for a short time,
for twenty, forty, or eighty years, to discover and believe that you are a beloved child of God.

The length of time doesn't matter.
You are sent into this world to believe in yourself as God's chosen one
and then to help your brothers and sisters know that they are also beloved sons and daughters of God
who belong together.

You are sent into this world to be a people of reconciliation.
You are sent to heal, to break down the walls between you and your neighbors,
locally, nationally, and globally.

Before all the distinctions, the separations, and the walls built on foundations of fear,
there was unity in the heart and mind of God.
Out of that unity, you are sent...
 into this world for a little while
to claim that you and every other human being
belongs to that same God of love who lives from eternity to eternity.

               H.J. Nouwen
               Finding My Way Home