19. My vocation, calling, may not be how I make a living.
(Before looking at the questions below, take a few minutes to think about this statement. Invite Jesus to speak to you about what He would like you to notice.)
ARE THERE THINGS YOU DO, YOU WORK AT, OUTSIDE OF YOUR JOB THAT BRING YOU JOY? WHAT ARE THEY? HOW DO THEY BENEFIT OTHERS?
DO YOU FIND THAT YOU EXPERIENCE GOD IN YOUR WORK? IF SO, CAN YOU THANK HIM FOR THIS?
WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE A DEEPER EXPERIENCE OF JESUS IN YOUR WORK, A GREATER SENSE OF HIS PRESENCE, EVEN PARTNERSHIP?
Our choice of vocation can be motivated by several things. We may come to believe that God is calling us to a particular vocation. Less directly than this “working for God” we might be motivated by a desire to simply do something meaningful. This will often include work that we are gifted at and passionate about. School teachers know that unless they see their work as a calling, the money might not be worth the stress involved in today’s educational system. Other people might be called to a justice effort, environment, racial reconciliation, etc. For others, the necessity of making a living might be the primary motive for choosing an occupation. For these people, their job might not carry with it a sense of value, meaning, or purpose and it might not even be fulfilling.
What do you do then, if you spend a large part of each day doing something that you might not enjoy, feel called to, or find significant? Two approaches can be helpful.
The first is to find a way to connect with God in the mundane work that you do. The story of Brother Lawrence, in the book Practicing the Presence of God, is a wonderful example of someone whose joy came not from the work he did, but rather from the companionship of God that he experienced in his work. Brother Lawrence worked for a time in the monastery kitchen and then later as a sandal maker. He describes that the prayer services at the monastery did little to move him but that he was able to enter a deep prayerful presence of God in the mundane tasks he worked at. For him, the tasks seem to clear his distracted mind and actually help him focus on God. (He would likely be diagnosed as ADD in today’s world.) Brother Lawrence can be an inspiration to those whose jobs seem remote or meaningless, the factory workers, farm workers, and the stay-at-home mom for example.
A second option for those who don’t find meaning in their work is seen in the many people who work their job and then find meaningful things to do, as volunteers, outside of their work. It is our nature, and God’s desire, that we find meaning in life and in our vocations. Finding the special work that brings meaning and joy may require intention, creativity, and prayer but it is possible. And it may be something we do apart from our jobs.