Recently I was invited to speak to a group of young people
on the theme of “vocation.” This seems a very dusty and somewhat religious
topic: monks have a vocation, Catholics pray “for vocations,” but what
does this have to do with young people who wear chucks and facebook each
other? A lot, I would hold. Isn’t the most profound question of any human
being, young or old, what they are supposed to do with their lives? When
we are young, it is a searching question, full of hope and some anxiety,
and we are eager to discover what it is that we are meant for. When we
are older, the question presses upon us to look back at the landscape of
our life and inquire whether we have given ourselves to something worthwhile
or alas, spent ourselves on a dream, an illusion. Or even worse, whether
we ever engaged in what we were supposed to do. As Stephen Covey puts it,
“Nobody says on his deathbed, ‘I wish I had spent more time at the office.’”
One of the greatest painters of the 20th century, Pablo Picasso, was
regularly haunted by the question whether he was really fulfilling his
potential. The German poet Rainer Maria Rilke wrote ten “Letters to a Young
Poet” dealing with the question of finding one’s calling. And the coaching
industry is booming as people try to find out what they are supposed to
do with their lives. You might even say that the only ones who don’t regularly
ask the vocation question are those who drown it out with busyness and
noise.
What are we to do with our lives? What has God intended for us? And
how will we ever find an answer? Life seems so full of choices and possibilities
that one can easily get overwhelmed. And is it not a luxury to ask questions
of calling, in the face of sub-prime crises and unemployment: let us just
be grateful for having a job! In 1522 a young Spaniard who converted to
Christ decided to put together a set of readings or meditations to help
some of his friends confront squarely the vocation question. In the course
of four weeks he helped them deal with their fears, hopes, and the so-common
mechanisms of self-deception. The result eventually became the “Ignatian
Spiritual Exercises,” and since then thousands of men and women around
the world have followed them, often with revolutionary results.
When you get some time off where you can reflect a bit, take stock and
ask afresh the question, “Where am I headed and how far have I journeyed?”
The Jewish philosopher Martin Buber quotes the old rabbi Zusya who says:
“In the world to come I shall not be asked: ‘Why were you not Moses?’ I
shall be asked: ‘Why were you not Zusya?’” We do not need to be somebody
we are not, let alone measure ourselves with people more gifted, more beautiful,
or more holy. The point of life is to become who we are meant to be, to
become ourselves. Finding that unique contribution, that calling which
nobody else can fulfill, brings unique energy and satisfaction. It can
also be a bit scary, for it might mean changing our lives to accommodate
what it requires. But, we are not alone in this quest – the Lord journeys
with us as well.
So take courage and ask!
If you
would like to read more, you can visit Martin’s blog
post.
Martin Steinbereithner is
a member of the Servants of
the Word and is the Director for Mission Development for the Sword
of the Spirit region in Europe and the Middle East.
