Charles Drew, A Journey Worth Taking

I'm benefiting from my reading of Charles Drew's A Journey Worth Taking: Finding Your Purpose in This World. Drew, senior pastor of Emmanuel Presbyterian in Manhattan and former associate of Tim Keller, writes about the topic of calling in an engaging, studied, and helpful fashion--grounding his discussion in knowledge of God, knowledge of self, and service to others.I'm a quarter of the way through the book and so far my favorite quotes have been about the paradoxical path towards "figuring yourself out." Here's a few such quotes:

Ironically, the best way to find out who you are is not to spend toomuch time trying to find out who you are. Love people, engage people, and show God to people, and self-discovery will sneak in the back door. As Jesus put it, "Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it." p. 98...the most effective way to pursue self-discovery is to serve. In other words, if I set out to discover myself, my search will be frustrating. If, on the other hand, I set out to serve, I will begin to discover things about myself along the way. p. 36The road to self-discovery and God-discovery is marked not so much by solitude and introspection as by simple decisions, made every day, to do what is right. p. 40This task of showcasing God is so fundamental to what I have been made for that I will not figure myself out very well unless I make it a priority. I find myself in other words (and ironically), only as I make "finding myself" less important than finding and showcasing God. p. 79God the Creator is at the center of things--not I. If I try to put myself at the center I will enter a universe that does not actually exist--a fantasy world. The result is that I will never truly discover myself. p. 80