“I won’t tell you that the world matters nothing, or the world’s voice, or the voice of society. They matter a good deal. They matter far too much. But there are moments when one has to choose between living one’s own life, fully, entirely, completely—or dragging out some false, shallow, degrading existence that the world in its hypocrisy demands. You have that moment now. Choose!” ― Oscar Wilde
The notion of living one’s own life “fully, entirely, completely” can be quite elusive if you fail to consider the larger context in which your life is set. Seen in self-centered terms, your life and the choices related to it may relate to simply satisfying your needs and wants. When viewed through the wider lens of altruism, your life and the choices related to it are inclined toward the needs and wants of the whole.
Whether one path is superior to the other I cannot say, but what I do know is that in approaching the matter simply from the standpoint of the temporal concerns of the world, even the most generous, unselfish and philanthropic person risks living a meaningless life if all he does is satisfies more of the world’s demands.
There is often a difference between needs and wants. What the world needs rarely squares with what the world wants. To live your own life “fully, entirely, completely” you must come to understand the difference between its needs and wants and serve it accordingly.
Gregory Hake 
I think in the account of the last supper, Jesus instruction was clear as to how the world would receive those that didn’t devote their lives to satisfying it’s wants.
He said “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you…These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.”
The world’s problems will never be solved at the same level they were created. The answer is to rise up and the precedent has been set.
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“Man and all he creates ought to be built by love in an atmosphere of sacredness, nothing more, nothing less.” I love this quote from your post yesterday! I think it provides the perfect platform from which we should serve in the world. To serve in the world, but not of it is how I would approach it. Just as with anything it is wise to be functioning at a level where the wants and needs can be seen for what they are and our approach taken on behalf of the success of the whole of heaven and earth. Thanks for some great posts this week!
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If we realize that what we really want is what we really need there can be a blending of congruency. Temporal dominated concerns cause a disconnecting dividing line between wants and needs. Having an understanding of the splitting fragmenting difference that has a tendency to arise in human experience can be observed more in perspective. We realize a house divided is not a pleasant experience. A moment of perspective serves to provide the space for choosing reorientation and connection with true wants and needs that relate to the eternal benefit of the whole including oneself!
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