Last week I wrote about a show I went to called Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind in Chicago. Well, Wheaton College has started publishing a monthly paper of activities and fun things to do in the area. I noticed that they listed a show called That’s Weird, Grandma which caught my eye because it plays at the same theater as Too Much Light. I checked out their web page and learned that the show is produced by an organization called “Barrel of Monkeys,” where performers team up with schools to teach creative writing to children and encourage the expression of their voices and imaginations.

Really, you guys, hearing about an organization like Barrel of Monkeys makes my heart so happy. This is a group of really talented people. They could just be performing in plays and improv troupes around Chicago in order to pay the rent and pursue their own dreams of success. However, these guys are sacrificing their time and efforts to bring their skills and inspiration to inner-city school children. They’re taking something they’re good at, something they’re passionate about, and they’re using it to help other people.

I guess my impending graduation and lack of direction has got me thinking a lot recently about the concepts of purpose and talent. Bill Hybels once gave a great talk on this subject. The basic gist was that when people with gifts and passions find their purpose in life, watch out world, because something awesome is gonna happen. I don’t know what the story behind Barrel of Monkeys is, but I like to think some performer or writer saw an unfulfilled need in the city’s public school system, but instead of sitting around yelling at politicians through the TV, they relentlessly pursued the fulfillment of that need through their own talents. If that’s the case, then that’s awesome. Everyone in this world needs to do something like that. I see people like that, and my heart is just filled to the brim with hope for this world.

On the other hand, sometimes I see people who have such enormous talent. Such huge potential. And they’re doing nothing. They dropped out of college and are free-loading off their parents. They work at WalMart, but only so they can have extra cash to buy video games and weed. And I just want to scream at these people. What are you doing? You had so much going for you, and you’re throwing it all away. You could have done something huge. It’s one of the most upsetting things in world to me.

I want to do something huge. I just don’t know what yet. I’m not an artist, and my talents are a little harder to pinpoint. And I still have no idea what my purpose might be. But just you wait. Meanwhile, I’m open to suggestions

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