“Tradition has it that our gifts and our talents are the most likely places to find callings, which is largely true, but not always.”
– Gregg Levoy, in his book, Callings; Finding and Following an Authentic Life
Levoy goes on to tell the story of Mark Dubois, who leads the charge to try to save the Stanislaus River in Northern California. And, because it was a calling, the lengths he went to were intensely personal, passionate and at least for several years, successful. (You get a feel for it by clicking the link).
This idea of pursuing a calling rather than a career, a cause rather than a job is intensely personal, and it’s not for everyone. On February 24th, the Wall Street Journal ran a story by Rachel Feintzig, titled “I Don’t Have A Job. I Have A Higher Calling.” The sub-headline was “some employees balk…” at the idea of their jobs being evangelized as a part of the “greater good.”
Whether or not we balk at the idea or not, it seems that the magic occurs when the two — our jobs and our callings — are most closely aligned.
If something is off — out of synch — in our workaday lives, a worthwhile endeavor might be to consider whether we have a calling, and if we do, what it might be.
I’m not suggesting we chain ourselves to a rock as the river rises towards us, like Mark Dubois did. Just that we might want to spend more time doing something that would make us consider it, if ever we were faced with the choice.
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