Introduction to Vocation
The Latin roots of the word are:
Vocation - meaning summons
Vocare - meaning to call
Vox - meaning voice
“Let Your Life Speak,” by Parker J. Palmer is a favorite book of mine on vocation. He writes;
“Vocation is rooted in the Latin word for voice. Vocation is not a goal I pursue. It means a calling I hear.”
In this expansive definition of vocation, questions of meaning, identity, passions, interests, motivations, service, discernment, and beliefs are all significant.
A quick search of definitions usually includes something about jobs and careers. This is understandable. Without delving too deep into history, the word first came into use in the early 15th century and described the draw (or summons) from God towards religious ministry or a profession. However, alongside the specific, there was always a broader understanding of the term.
The Oxford English Dictionary includes the description, “a mode of life or sphere of action.”
Pilgrimages
Questions lie at the heart of vocational pilgrimages. The quest is one of continual discernment.
What is the call right now?
How best can I serve the world with all that I am?
Who am I becoming?
What are the golden threads that weave through my life?
Pilgrimage Speaks Of Journey
There are twists and turns, forks in roads, resting points, valleys and peaks, and horizons seen and unseen. The orientation of the pilgrim is one of curiosity, openness, and peace with mystery. Who knows where the journey may lead or what one may discover along the way? The pilgrim responds to an invitation into that which is bigger than oneself – the transcendent some may call it. As pilgrims, we set out, finding our worth even as we sometimes stumble in the dark. Gradually, we find ourselves being liberated from a world that measures and compares us. Incrementally it dawns on us. We are only free to give ourselves completely to our paid and unpaid sacred pursuits when we understand who we are in the fullness of our humanity. It's a lifelong expedition.
"The place God calls you is the place where your deep gladness and the world's deep hunger meet."
Frederick Buechner
The words of the Presbyterian minister Fredrick Buechner, encapsulate two important dimensions of vocation for me - understanding to what and to whom we have been called. It is never just about us. it is always a journey that is undertaken in the service of the world in which we live. Regardless of age, background creeds, or season of our lives, we are all called in some shape or form and invited to live out those callings in our contexts.