S6 | Ep. #57: Fr. Jim Martin

"Pay attention to the movements in your soul."

Fr. Jim Martin is an author, speaker, editor for American Magazine, contributor to the New York Times, Jesuit priest and consultant to the Vatican. SO MUCH in the marketplace is secular so I know this may feel unfamiliar.

Actually, question #13 on the survey I give clients to help me prepare my presentation is this: "What topic do you not want me to speak to?" 

Nearly each of the 1,500+ presentations I've given I've received the same answer: Religion and politics.

My friends, if we are unwilling to even whisper about religion and politics - we'll never find common ground or live our best lives. Today's episode is much less about religion and much more about discovery and how to live our best life going forward.

Today, Fr. Jim will help us better understand the movements in our soul... and why it's critically important that we stop and listen to them.

SHOW NOTES:

• Fr. Jim did not grow up in a religious household. 
• He studied finance + took a job with GE. The first years were exciting: A yuppy with good money in New York. After a few years, he felt trapped, asking: How am I going to get out of this?
• He went to a psychologist to deal with the stress and also began reading the writings of Thomas Merton. 
• After a year, the therapist asked: What would you do if you could do anything you wanted to do?
  • Every young person should be asked this question.
  • Answering this question is how you make the leap from being miserable into discovering a new calling.
• He joined the seminary and 10 years later was ordained a priest and assigned to America Magazine where he's been since.
• He had no clue what he was getting into and his parents and friends were a mix of horrified and upset. A year later they got it.
• "God works through your desires. There's a push and pull to something else."
• "Desiring something more fulfilling, satisfying? Pay attention to those movements in your soul. That's the call."
• What do I want to do with my life? That's something everyone struggles with; if we let ourselves. Allow yourself to answer that question.
• "The hardest part of leaving the corporate structure is the money. But its ultimately really freeing."
• "The most freeing and fun thing is being able to be myself."
• Think of times you've felt moved. Everyone has these but they aren't encouraged to reflect on them, name them as God.
  • Holding your first child, feeling the undeniable love and not knowing where it comes from? That's God awakening His love in you.
  • Wanting more in life. That's God calling to you.
  • Falling in love with your spouse. That's God calling you together.
• Fr. Jim has written 10 books, including:
  • Searching for God at Ground Zero 
  • Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect...
  • My Life with the Saints 
  • Becoming Who You Are: Insights on the True Self from Thomas Merton and the Saints.
• What do you say to people lukewarm to faith? The first step in the spiritual life for lukewarm people is the insight that the desire for God is actually God calling you. When you can at least consider that, it changes everything. It's not just a weird feeling.
• "That which you seek is seeking you." - Rumi

Fr. Jim Martin's Live Inspired 7 

1. What is the best book you’ve ever read? The 7 Story Mountain changed my life. The story of Thomas Merton, an American raised in France and the UK, who finds true meaning in a Trappist Monastery. 

2. Tomorrow you discover your wealthy uncle shockingly dies at the age of 103; leaving you millions. What would you do with it? I'd turn the check right over to the Jesuits!

3. Your house is on fire, all living things and people are out. You have the opportunity to run in and grab one item. What would it be? At the day of our vows, we're giving a medal cross, we keep it our whole lives and we are buried with it. I'd get my vow cross.

4. You are sitting on a bench overlooking a gorgeous beach. You have the opportunity to have a long conversation with anyone living or dead. Who would it be? Jesus! My first question would be, what would my life have been like if I didn't join the Jesuits. And I'd want to ask what was life like in Nazareth growing up - there is not a lot mentioned about his childhood.

5. What is the best advice you’ve ever received? Don't let anyone prevent you from becoming the person you want to be.

A lot of times we react to people or try to be a person that is liked. That's not the person we're meant to be. We're meant to be ourselves. Trying to be the person everybody likes, that is useless. Be yourself.

6. Looking back, what advice would you give yourself at age 20? Be yourself. Stop trying to be what other people want you to be. 

7. It’s been said that all great people can have their lives summed up in one sentence. How do you want yours to read? He was a good Jesuit.

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I can’t wait to see you here next Thursday! Today is your day. Live Inspired.

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