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Sensing the Call

We begin this chapter, and indeed this entire book, in the place where we will end. We begin and end in the knowledge that we, all of us, are known and loved by God. We begin and end in the knowledge that God summons us into relationship, invites us to share in his divine life, and calls us to ministry in the world. How we hear and respond to that call is the topic of this first chapter and sets the stage for the unfolding of this text.

This famous prayer of Thomas Merton (1915-1968) acknowledges the challenge and difficulty, as well as the hope and promise, of all who make this journey:

God, we have no idea where we are going. We do not see the road ahead of us. We cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact that we think we are following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so. But we believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And we hope we have that desire in all that we are doing. We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire. And we know that if we do this you will lead us by the right road, though we may know nothing about it. Therefore, we will trust you always though we may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. We will not fear, for you are ever with us, and you will never leave us to face our perils alone.1

Thus we set out to explore what it means to be called by God. How do we hear that call? How do we know it is a call from God? What could following that call mean for our everyday lives? What is the role of the community in discerning a sense of calling? How do we prepare ourselves and open ourselves to perceive and respond? Even to begin to answer these important questions requires some definition of terms as well as a common understanding of the nature of discernment, neither of which is simple or easy.

Thomas Merton

Thomas Merton was born in 1915 and perhaps is the most influential American Roman Catholic writer on spirituality. In 1941 he became a Trappist monk and, while a Trappist, he became a strong advocate of civil rights. Later in life, he became interested in other religious traditions, especially Zen Buddhism. Thomas Merton died in Bangkok in 1968. His legacy is a significant range of publications of which his autobiography, The Seven Storey Mountain (1948, Harcourt Brace and Company), is one of the best known.

Call and Vocation

Part of the confusion is that words like call and vocation are often used interchangeably. This is understandable since the word vocation comes from the Latin vocare, which literally translated means "to call." The confusion comes in the application of these terms. The word vocation can be rightly understood in a number of different ways. The dictionary offers three standard definitions: one being a summons to perform a certain function or career, especially a religious one; another refers to a function or career to which one believes he or she is called; and a third refers to any career, profession, or occupation.2 Notice that there are both religious and secular meanings implied in each of these definitions.

For our purposes, writing from a mainline perspective, we will follow the pattern established in what has become a classic text in Christian discernment, Listening Hearts: Discerning Call in Community. In this book, the term vocation is used in the broadest sense, while the term call is reserved for something more specific. For instance, someone might have a vocation as a choral director and yet respond to a call to serve a particular choir at a particular time in a particular place.3 The title of this book is derived from the Judeo-Christian understanding that the heart is more than flesh; it is the very core of being, the hub of mind, body, and spirit. It is in the heart where we enter into communion with God and one another, and it is the place where we struggle to understand our vocation and God's call.4 The premise of this text is that God's call involves obedience, God's call involves some form of ministry, and God's call involves community.

Pointing to the origins of the word obedience, from the Latin, audire, which means, "to listen," the authors of this book contend that every true call is a call to obey.5 Obedience refers to the deep listening of the heart, which requires a response. For people of faith, that response is ministry. In this sense, ministry is not simply the doing of good deeds, but more specifically refers to "something that Christ does in us and through us and that we do in and through Christ."6 Christian vocation, therefore, involves our striving to hear and respond to God's call in ways that conform to a living and active partnership with Christ.

According to this understanding, being obedient, or listening for God's call to ministry, requires discernment. This term, which is so crucial to our understanding of vocation and call, comes from the Latin discernere, and means "to separate," "to distinguish," or "to sort out." In the realm of classical spirituality, discernment has to do with identifying what spirit is at work in a specific situation. In this sense, discernment helps one to determine the source of a call, helps one to determine to whom a call is directed, and helps one to determine an appropriate response. It also helps one to determine if one is being deaf or blind to a call, rejecting or ignoring a call, or resisting or avoiding a call. Discernment itself is a gift from God and is a matter of both hard work and a generous amount of grace. This is particularly true since we are bombarded by any number of voices. The voices of ego and pride, of culture and career, of success and self-interest, can compete with, and drown out, the voice of God. How, then, are we to differentiate these voices, sort out the spirits, and discriminate between our will and God's will?7

Unfortunately there are no rules and no definitive answers, and the rules that do exist, even the most sincere and well intentioned, are imperfect and incomplete. For example, we can look to the experience of a sect of early Quakers who were convinced that God's "true" call was always contrary to one's own will. The assumption was that any "cross" to one's personal will provided an opportunity to take up the cross of Christ. This line of thinking produced some rather absurd results when some Quaker Friends were discovered walking naked through the streets of their community simply because it was clearly "contrary to their own will and inclination" and therefore was most certainly an action taken in "obedience to the Lord."8 Another definitive test or rule regarding the true call of God, far less dramatic than the last, yet often far more problematic, is the reliance on particular passages of Scripture to determine God's call and will. "Frequently, however, this meant (and can still mean) merely choosing some biblical passages and ignoring others to confirm a pre-charted course."9 Therefore, Christian discernment cannot be reduced to a set of rules or formulated answers, but rather develops in a relationship with God; that is, our hearts being rooted and grounded in the heart of God. To that end, discernment is better understood as "apprehension rather than comprehension."10 Using the analogy of driving a car at night, discernment is like the light that is cast only far enough ahead to see the next bit of road. Discernment involves taking risks, it involves making mistakes, it involves having faith in God, and it involves trusting that more discernment will come.11

This is precisely why the role of the community is so important and why a life lived in community is so central to the Christian faith. Paul aptly uses the metaphor of the Body of Christ to describe the mutuality and interconnectedness of members. "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it (1 Corinthians 12:26, New Revised Standard Version, NRSV)." Given this reality, something incredibly important happens when we consult one another within the Christian community. "God calls us each individually but as individuals we see only partially."12 Other members of the community can have the ability to open our eyes to see things that we might not have seen and open our ears to hear what we might not have been able to hear on our own.

Even a person who feels absolutely certain about a call may be mistaken in how it is applied. Because God often reveals part of the picture to one person and another part to another person, it is prudent to consult one another to discern God's counsel, guidance, and direction, even if there is no apparent reason to do so. While circumstances sometime require us to act without consulting others, the danger of arrogance and error in proceeding on our own can be great.13

So vocation and call require obedient listening, a response that takes the form of ministry, and community discernment. Vocation and call require risk and the possibility of making mistakes. Vocation and call require trust that even when we act in error, more discernment will follow. Central to this understanding of call and vocation is the basic idea that God has called each one of us to do something with our lives,...