Last week I spent quite a bit of time pondering, what drives people to get involved, in varying degrees, with certain social or political causes.  Over the weekend, I got a little bit closer to that answer.

On Sunday, we hosted an impromptu lunch with a couple from church. The community of Christians here is pretty close, especially among the mission-minded expats. A request for a ride home turned into a great afternoon of food, laughs and enlightenment. The soon to be family of 3 (baby in the oven) joined us for a delicious Brazilian meal that I had little (nothing) to do with.  My sole contribution was socializing.  The husband, after hearing of my interest in reading, recommended a few books. As I’d already read and enjoyed one of them, I knew his taste would suit mine.  I didn’t even wait for him to finish praising the books before I’d ordered them for my Kindle.

That Sunday, I started with “The Gift of Being Yourself” by author David Benner. By Monday, I was completely drawn in. I didn’t realize until about halfway through the book that it’s subtitled “The Sacred Call to Self-Discovery.”  God knows I’m oddly anti “finding myself” and I pretty much loathe the entire genre of “pop psychology self-help” books. Maybe later I’ll need to explore why. But for now, God, knowing that I’d scoff at it had I known the full title, allowed Kindle engineers to start books directly in the prologue.

I’ll save my drawn out review and skip to the part directly relevant to my earlier question.  First, I have to admit, I’ve been using the word vocation incorrectly my entire life. I always thought this word was interchangeable with job, career or occupation.  Turns out it’s a theologically rooted word that’s actually closer to a “calling.”

Benner quotes a couple of similarly minded authors before expounding in his own words.  He mentions Gordon Smith’s idea of vocation, “… much bigger than a career, job or occupation, our unique calling will be based on our gifts and abilities, will grow out of our deepest desires, and will always involve some response to the needs of the world.”  That line spoke powerfully to me. I could imagine my deepest desires meeting the needs of the world in the street and shaking hands. Or maybe bear hugging!  No wait, we shake hands then high-five. There’s no hug.

Benner then quotes Frederick Buechner who says, “…the place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” Again this hit me powerfully. Is it possible that my deep gladness could meet the world’s deep hunger? The world has so many deep hungers, and humanity is hugely diverse when it comes to things that bring us deep and lasting gladness. And this all sounds like a very good thing to me. It sounds like, even the most niche cause or calling serves to meet some deep need of the world.

Benner describes, very nicely, what drives our vocation and the resulting effects of taking it fully on.

“Our vocation is always a response to a Divine call to take our place the kingdom of God. Our vocation is a call to serve God and our fellow humans in a distinctive way that fits the shape of our being. In one way or another, Christian calling will always involve the care of God’s creation and people.  This realigns us to the created world and to our neighbor, moving us from self-centered exploitation to self-sacrificing service and stewardship.”

After reading this, I see Paul’s various charges regarding our work in a refreshing manner. He says in his letter to the church in Ephesus, “Work with enthusiasm, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Ephesians 6:7) He shares this same idea with the Colossians saying, “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” (Colossians 3:2) This no longer sounds to me like a call to enjoy slavery.

When we discover our vocation, our Divine calling, we are working for the Lord.  When our gifts and desires are being used for Divine purpose, we can be beyond honored serving God; we can be deeply glad.  We don’t all need to be missionaries, working for Greenpeace, or [insert your favorite social cause NPO].  I never thought that anyway.  But it’s good to find confirmation that my gifts, skills, deepest desires and gladness have a Divine appointment with the world’s deep hunger; fitting perfectly into God’s will.  

I’ve found David Benner’s “The Gift of Being Yourself” a timely discovery. This note touches but a part, the part I found interestingly relevant to my recent ponderings; however, the book in its entirety is worth checking out.

Getting back to the original question and why I feel I’m a bit closer to an answer; it seems our vocation, and even hints or clues to our vocation are at least one piece of the puzzle.