slight chance of RAINN

I know I'm a little late to jump on this magazine's band-wagon, but after reading this Relevant Magazine article, you might have to count me in. The interview starts off slow when Rainn Wilson makes the obligatory plugs to his new show, The Farm, (a spin off for his character from the The Office), then the read starts getting really interesting. Wilson discusses his reasons for becoming an atheist at one point and his reconnection to the Bahá’í belief that he grew up in. I admire his insistency to wrestle with beliefs and to provoke important theological questions. In this interview, it's clear that Wilson also has mature grasp and deep respect for not just his craft, but art in general. His interest in theology and the human soul led him to create some really neat projects. Rainn Wilson co-created SoulPancake.com, a safe place for humorous creativity to combine with deep philosophical thoughts. I must say, his talk-show bit, The Metaphysical Milkshake is my favorite video segment from SoulPancake. I highly recommend watching a few videos from his channel, it might be a great Romans 12:2 exercise, exploring where most people are coming from. Anyway, the rest of the article goes on to talk about the importance of service and his reasons for founding Lide, a female empowerment program for young ladies trapped in Haitian poverty.

Although Rainn Wilson isn't a Christian (I'm pretty sure), it's clear that God is using Wilson's passion for questioning values and beliefs for the overall glory of God's kingdom. After all, Matthew 7:7-9 says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened."

I would have never guessed that "Dwight Schrute" had such a incredible perspective on humanity, God and happiness. Below is a snip-it from the Relevant interview regarding Rainn Wilson's thoughts on "the pursuit happiness":

By all outward counts, Wilson should be the picture of happiness. “I’m an actor and an artist and a producer and a writer,” he says. “I’m really lucky that I get to work in my chosen field and be creative.” But “happy” is not a word Wilson would ever use to describe his life.
“I truly believe that happiness is not an if/then statement,” he says. “I think through most of our culture it’s, ‘If I get this, then I will be happy. If I get this job, I will be happy. If I make this much money, I will be happy. If I find my mate, I will be happy. If I have success in my career, I will be happy.’ Whatever it is, there’s this series of if/then relationships. I think that’s not how happiness works.”
“I don’t like the word ‘happiness,’” he clarifies. “I think we have it in the United States—‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.’ What is the pursuit of happiness? Happiness, to me, is like my son when you take him to Santa Monica pier and he goes on a roller coaster and eats cotton candy. He’s happy. And then eight minutes later, he’s not happy. He wants to do it again to get happy again. Or he wants to go on the merry-go-round so he can get happy. He wants to go swim in the ocean so he can be happy. Happiness is this thing that you’re chasing.”
“I think that the better word is ‘contentment,’” he says. “Contentment lies in living fully in your life’s purpose. Living in God’s purpose for you breeds a contentment that’s not contingent on achieving certain things or doing certain things ... The ancient Greeks believed in a concept called eudaimonia, which translates as ‘human flourishing.’ That was the highest ideal in the Greek world.”
He wonders aloud, “Can you imagine if our natural motto was, ‘Life, liberty and the pursuit of human flourishing?’ It’s not happiness; it’s human flourishing—deep, soul-enriching stuff. It’s connection. It’s service. It’s work. It’s creativity. It’s beauty.”