The well-known musician, Yo Yo Ma, in a recent quote, said, “The pandemic accentuated that part of me that says why I am useful.” Am I useful for anything? I’m only useful if I feel I can respond to need.”
There are those who quickly respond to needs, almost as soon as they are expressed, while others seem to not want to be bothered. Now in all fairness, we are often overwhelmed by needs. As I write this, people in Haiti live in poverty, hundreds of families have been left homeless by out of control wildfires in the west, people in Tennessee have lost everything in flooding from a tropical storm, and thousands are trying to get out of Afghanistan before they lose their lives at the hands of terrorists. It is certainly easy to understand “need fatigue.”
While none of us can meet all needs, are we willing to go the other direction and turn a blind eye to needs and merely wrap ourselves in the comfort of self-absorption? While that may seem easier in the short-run, failing to address genuine needs is likely to leave us empty and hollow.
God has placed us here to take care of one another and we do that best by meeting needs. If we want to be useful, as Yo Yo Ma indicates, we will strive to meet needs. This is the difference between just living or choosing to live on purpose.