In addition to being the great-great-great grandson of Arthur Guinness, the Dublin brewer, Os Guinness has attractively and persuasively presented the claims of Christ to our culture, and each of us, since serving as a leader alongside Francis and Edith Schaeffer at L’Abri in the late 1960’s.
Guinness’ book, The Call, is about “finding and fulfilling the central purpose of your life.” It’s a great book for artists to read, with many applicable quotes.
Here’s one, from chapter 6…
In the biblical understanding of giftedness, gifts are never really ours or for ourselves. We have nothing that was not given us. Our gifts are ultimately God’s, and we are only ‘stewards’ – responsible for the prudent management of property that is not our own. This is why our gifts are always ‘ours for others,’ whether in the community of Christ or the broader society outside, especially the neighbor in need.
This is also why it is wrong to treat God as a grand employment agency, a celestial executive searcher to find perfect fits for our perfect gifts. The truth is not that God is finding a place for our gifts but that God has created us and our gifts for a place of his choosing – and we will only be ourselves when we are finally there.