To raise a child. It also takes a village to raise an adult. The project never really comes to a close.
And since no man is an island, since we all depend on one another, I cannot work out God’s will in my own life unless I also consciously help other men to work out His will in theirs. His will, then, is our sanctification, our transformation in Christ, our deeper and fuller integration with other men. And this integration results not in the absorption and disappearance of our own personality, but in its affirmation and its perfection.
Thomas Merton, No Man Is An Island
No one is an islander on their own private island; everyone is a villager in their shared communal village.
Many adults—even otherwise very spiritual ones—are effectively involved in trying to raise themselves. With their own value systems, self-perceptions, and decisions. Figuring out who they are all on their own.
Where is your village? Who are your fellow villagers? Who is helping to raise you? Who do you trust to help work out God’s will in your life? For whom are you doing the same? With whom is your life becoming more integrated as you become more fully your self?
