Get to know me.
I am not what I do.
Nearly every introduction proceeds the same way: after exchanging names someone asks, “So, what do you do for a living?” We can discover a little about a person by finding out his job, but a job is only what a person does — it tells us very little about who he is.
To assume, for example, that I am a stereotypical web-geek would be a mistake. Oh certainly I am a geek, my friends and family would never let me deny that, but I am also a father of four; a teacher of history, literature, and philosophy; and a school administrator. In the summer I am a director for a nation-wide youth ministry, and only in my off-time do I dabble in the world of geekery.
A far better question to ask a new acquaintance is, "What are you interested in?" Ask me that question and you'll discover that, among many other things, I love Søren Kierkegaard, early church history, and web programming.
"But wait!" you'll say, "your jobs line up perfectly with your interests." And indeed they do, but I am one of the lucky few. The things I get to do are the things I love to do. Should the day come that I must do something other than what I love, I will do so willingly, but until then I shall be continue to be thankful for my good fortune.
