IINTERVIEW WITH TOM WRIGHT |
SOUL COACH |
Thomas Wright was a college sophomore when his father sat him down for a man to man
talk. The father explained that he was paying good money for his son's education
and wanted to know what career track he was pursuing. Truthfully, Thomas had
not thought about his future. But his answer, he recalled, was this: "How can
I decide what I want to do with my life until i know why I was put here in the
first place?" His father, who had been raised Catholic, rolled his eyes and suggested
that Thomas should become a priest. Then he walked out of the room. For
Thomas,a Methodist living in Geneseo,IL, that discussion 40 years ago launched
a lifelong,soulful search for life's purpose-not just for himself,but for all
people. Today, the 59-year-old businessman, husband, and father of four is preparing
to teach a class called Soul Searching, at Black Hawk College in Moline.
It meets 7-9 pm Tuesdays, March 21 to April 25. |
'Gradually, I understood the purpose of life isn't discovered 'out there' so to speak. 'It's in here' THOMAS WRIGHT-on finding his purpose in life. |
Q: |
Have you figured out why you were put here in the first place? |
A: |
"Yes, that's what the class is all about-to help people determine the purpose of their life or to show them why they have been created and put here on this earth." |
Q: |
You studied philosophy in graduate school and then, literally, searched the world
for an answer to the purpose of your life. You didn't find the answer out
there. Why? |
A: |
"Gradually, I understood the purpose of life isn't discovered 'out there' so to speak.
It's in here," he said,pointing to himself. |
Q: |
Why is life so challenging to find one's purpose in life? |
A: |
"Taking the inner look is the most challenging thing you can do because our physiology,
if you will, won't reveal its secrets." |
Q: |
Why does any of this have to do with spirituality? |
A: |
"Anything that has to do with peace is spiritual. Peace is the clue, or the evidence
that your begining to step into the spiritual dimension. When you take the
inner look and deal with the inner dimension, that's spiritual. The fact is that
each one of us was called for a specific, unique and important purpose, and we
also were endowed with some incredible gifts for the accomplishment of that purpose." |
Q: |
You say people are frustrated because they cannot access their gifts. Why? |
A: |
What if I don't want to know my purpose in life? |
Q: |
"Because those gifts are there for and in the service of the accomplishment of their
purpose. They can't use them for the day-to-day affairs." |
A: |
"When people start getting close to their purpose, it scares them. They start running
away from it. They'll run faster from there own potential than they will from
danger...There's another facet to this: Most people are living life completly
the opposite of their best interests. In other words, if you aren't pursuing
your purpose, your living life backwards. How many times have you heard people
say 'If I had only done the opposite of what I did'. People are living their lives
paradoxically. |
Q: |
Why do we run away from what we need, or what is best for us? |
A: |
"Our culture doesn't understand fear. It teaches us to run from fear. We should go
toward the things we fear rather than run from them because that gets us toward
growth and wholeness." |
Q: |
You beleive we run away because we fear an encounter with God. Why would we fear
an encounter with God? |
A: |
"Were talking about the awe of the holy, the awe of the other. It's the awe that
made Luther go into the monostary...absolute awe is a form of holy fear and reverence
that overwhelms us. When we run from the best and the highest...were running
from the God-like in ourselves." |
Q: |
You also call this sense of purpose, a 'Christness'.What do you mean by that? |
A: |
"We've been endowed with all of the talent, power and resources to accomplish our
purpose.When we find our purpose, we find our Christness. That is our endowment.
Christ is a word that is universal. It means the |
Q: |
What happens when we don't embrace our Christness? |
A: |
"There has been a point in my life, a point in your life, a point in everyones life
when we took the reins of life into our own hands. The moment we took the reigns
into our own hands, we severed the relationship with our Christness, our guidance
system." |
Q: |
Can't God lead you to your purpose through prayer? |
A: |
"Yes he can. But it's going to scare you. That's why we have so few saints." |
Q: |
What do you think happens after we die? |
A: |
"On judgement Day, I think one of the questions that will be asked is:'What have
you done with what's been given?'" |
Q: |
"The church is the place where you should decide your purpose. The church should
be the intersection of God and our life. A Global prescription (of church) doesn't
speak to the individual. The way church should evolve is the inner-look approach.
That's why im approaching the churches to try to do this in their own congregations.I've
heard people say spirituality is 3000 miles wide but 1 inch deep.
In the 21st century, spirituality will be the exploration of inner space." |
How should the church be part of the journey to find purpose? |
A: |