Off the Beaten Path

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."
                -Steve Jobs

I was thinking about Steve Jobs this morning as I was logging onto my computer at work and wishing it was a Mac.  I never met the man but I have been teary eyed since I heard about his death this afternoon.  When I got home and turned on my MacBook, there was his face on my home page which is still the default apple page.

When I reflect on the quote above I am reminded of how long I was trapped by dogma, as a pastor I tried living with the results of other people's thinking.  I convinced others to live the same way...trapped in a box that had steel walls.  What I heard in my heart was freedom, love, peace, kindness, tolerance, and acceptance, what I saw was the opposite  and I let those voices drown out the truth that was in my heart, what I intuitively knew was the path I was supposed to be on.  

I found that path in New Monasticism.  It is off the beaten path, so to speak, but it is the path I am traveling.   It is leading me allowing me to become who I truly want to be and Steve was right, everything else is secondary.

Rest in  Peace Steve, you will not be forgotten.