calling

Today in class we talked about calling. I like how the concept of calling takes us away from our own desires and focuses them in God's story. There were also some good quotes and writings from Calvin about how the purpose of our calling is to serve the public good. There was one Calvin quote that said that every resource that's been put in our hands must be used for the sake of others.

In discussions about calling, I feel like we should focus more on two things: community and immediate calling. Oftentimes it seems that we first try to figure what our job is going to be, and then we try to find a community from there. And if there's no community there, it means that God is challenging us to be survive without a community. But what if we considered community before occupation? What if we considered a community to serve, a community to support, and a community who will support us? After all, wherever we end up, the more important focus is who we serve rather than what tasks we're doing.

It also seems that calling tends to be too future-focused. We think that God has one particular place for us to reach in life, so we pray and wait and pray and wait until we see the fruit of something we're doing. Then hey! We found our calling! But calling should be more focused on the immediate. We should ask, "What is God calling me to do right here, right now." We have no idea what's going to happen in the future, and we should have faith that God will take care of it. Are we really supposed to figure out what God wants us to do in five years? Is that what should occupy our minds? I don't think so. Let's engage with the present. Tomorrow will take care of itself.