So the call to holiness is a call to personal change. I truly believe that our iconography bears witness to this basic fact. The purpose of this earthly life is to use the opportunities that life presents to accomplish this task of personal change and transformation. Think about icons. We know that they represent human beings and yet these human beings look a little different than us. They are meant to represent “transformed humans.”

One of the big questions that I have had to answer over the years is: How can I accomplish this personal change and feel comfortable with it? One of my answers has been that a person has to first accept the fact that this is the meaning and purpose of life. I find that many, if not most people, don’t fully accept this idea that we are placed on earth to “grow in our likeness of Jesus” and to do this necessarily requires each of us to undergo personal change. Once a person has accepted this vision of life, then he/she can focus their attention on trying to accomplish this task.

Ask yourself this question:

Why am I here on this earth?