Human Being versus Doing. Towards Wholeness

I am not alone when I admit I have wrestled with the being versus doing dichotomy. In essence, it's a longing to live more authentically, to experience meaning in those things we do and not feeling disconnected from our sense of being whether by mindless rote, guilt or unhealthy obligation. I know that this was a significant issue in my own faith journey, where the purpose and meaning were somehow disconnected from my religious practice. I was questioning why I was doing what I was doing and asking whether it contributed towards my wholeness. I wondered if I was running the religious treadmill even with its well-intentioned but toxic religious obligation.

As a part of my detox, I came to realize that this dichotomy was not really a being OR doing question.  I regained some equilibrium when it occurred to me that doing is a natural part of being human. Our doing is intimately connected to and is the fruit of our being. The issue has more to do with the quality of our being.

With the phantom dichotomy out of the way, it made space for greater wholeness or if you

prefer, the journey towards becoming love – becoming more genuinely human. Becoming is being in the process of maturity, and the actions which are part and parcel – the doing reflects the quality of being.   It is important that we remember that the path from head to heart is through the feet - it must be walked out. It must have a real-life, real-world expression (a doing). So being and doing are not really at odds with one another but both are fruits of the process of becoming.

Landing on Love

This can land in real life in a variety of ways, but one example that is close to my heart is the Love Paradigm. Our being is shaped and inspired by Divine Love that shapes how we see God, shapes how we see ourselves and others, and this has a significant bearing on our doing. These can include how we disciple, how we form and are a community, how we lead, how we engage the world, and each other. Love shapes what see as mission and how all this takes shape in real life.

What is shaping your doing?

• Fear?
• An attempt to feel worthy?
• anger / rebellion / futility?
• Acceptance/approval from others?
• Guilt or shame?
• Unhealthy obligation?
• Or love in the context of a love saturated universe flowing from the source that is the God-who-loves?  The rest that comes from being loved perfectly, and learning to live from this place of being.  A rest that flows from doing that is consistent with who we really are.
  

From your experience, what kinds of things shape your doing? And what might be a barrier to you integrating your being and doing?

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