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3 [singular] something that you are proud and lucky to have the opportunity to do
synonym
honour4 [countable, uncountable] (technical) a special right to do or say things without being punishedPrivilege: Webster Student definitionnoun: a right or liberty granted as a favor or benefit especially to some and not others -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Missed another month again in posting on my blog. Despite the fact that I did not have a job I have been keeping myself plenty busy. But now I started my job working with the Dane County Time Bank. It was very rewarding that my strategy for finding a job actually worked! Four of the major organizations I was volunteering for were very keen to hire me on, but they didn't have the funds: Madison-area Urban Ministry, Nehemiah Community Development Corporation, CORE, and DCTB [there are other organizations that I work with as a consultant as well]. It is the Time Bank that was the first to have some funds available to at least see them through to the end of 2011. I'm still keeping the door open for paid opportunities with the other organizations and continue to volunteer with them as much as I can. I am grateful for this initial opportunity because the Time Bank has something new for me to learn. I've experience in volunteer, fund and program development and consulting but the one area of knowledge, next to social entrepreneurship, that I want to get a hold of is: effectively tapping into human resource. It is more than mere volunteerism, it is an alternative or rather supplemental economy: getting things done through people as the primary resource; not money; not knowledge; not equity/property; not status (privilege); not program. While these are not excluded, TimeBanking is a model that's ultimate and final resource are people and ultimate and final goal is community. It's a privilege to be in this position.And that is what I've been meditating on for the last few days: what a privileged life I have and what I should do with such privilege. I don't simply want to blog about the details of my personal privilege; honestly why could you possibly find any interest in hearing "how good I've got it!"? I am not saying life is perfect, for there is no such thing this side of heaven. But as I look at my own life, I realize the degree to which I overlook the advantages and opportunities placed on life's path. While I believe that everyone has variations of advantages and opportunities available to them I do recognize that some of us are given an abundance, maybe even an extravagant abundance, while others must fully utilize the little. So these are some thoughts about how I may ponder the privilege I recognize today, in hopes of when things may not seem as copasetic! But even more, how can I bring others to this place of privilege? I do believe that it is actually improving the conditions of life, but I also believe there is something very significant to be said about it being a state of mind that is not dependent on the quality of circumstances or life.While I personally believe that my faith (or actually the object of my faith) is what brings me to this privileged state, I do recognize that others who may even have more faith than I don't seem to always maintain their grasp. Sickness, joblessness, grief over loss, fear/anxiety, family strife, and a variety of life circumstances can throw even the strongest willed or strongest believer into the throws of the tossing sea of difficulty and woes. I've been there, I've struggled with things all by myself without a whole lot of support around. Very unlike my current circumstances. I remember how stressed out I would be about things like housing, food, transportation and health. I constantly questioned desperately: what if this is cancer? what if this is disabling arthritis, what if this is a brain tumor, what if this is chronic fatigue syndrome? It wasn't that I was a hypochondriac. It was a paralyzing concern that I would be unable to carry such a burden as well as raise my kids and carry out my calling in life [some may call a career or vocation; I call it a mission, as in missionary]. But somehow I made it through those years. And through it all I learned to not permit such fears to paralyze me, but to be invigorated by discovering and focusing on Mercies that are new every morning and gleaning what daily bread my be provided. I am struck by the phenomenon of nature (creation) that is full of deficiencies and decay right along side of extravagances and abundance. So that in the course of a day I am filled with choices of how to pour out on others from a cup that I now recognize as full to overflowing (rather than deficient). There are clear choices to be made to carry out responsibilities and duties that the present day carries with it, and then there are those multitude of other choices of how to spend or share one's privilege.
