Rising To The Call
by Os Guinness
Chapter 1, The Ultimate Why
“It is never too late to be what you might have been”
George Eliot
The book opens with the presentation of a problem. “..”purpose and fulfillment are some of the deepest issues in our modern world.” He quotes Thomas Carlyle who said, “The man without purpose is like a ship without a rudder-- a waif, a nothing, a no-man” We experience this to be true particularly during the years in which we come into our adulthood. This time period characterized by choices presses upon us the weight of destiny, forcing us to consider why we are here and whether our existence has value.
The author continues his discussion by cautioning his readers against well intentioned but misguided effort. It’s possible to do alot of things really well and still fail. He quotes Walker Percy, “You can get all A’s and still flunk life.” So what do we do? How do we answer the ultimate why of our existence? why do we feel this urge to do something valuable?“answering the call of our Creator is the ‘ultimate why’ for living,...” After giving this brief answer he sets the stage for the rest of the book, “This book is for all who long to find and fulfill the purposes of their lives. It argues that this purpose can be found only when we discover the specific purpose for which we were created and to which we are called.” He assumes we readers are one of those individuals and proceeds to provide a helpful definition of calling.
“Calling is the truth that God calls us to himself so decisively that everything we are, everything we do, and everything we have is invested with a special devotion and dynamism lived out as a response to his summons and service.”
So we conclude with his main ideas of chapter 1.
- Humanity is called
- This calling requires a caller who is Jesus Christ
- Only by answering this call will we be able to accomplish our purpose and find fulfillment.
Let Your Life Speak
by Parker J. Palmer
Chapter 1 Listening to Life
Ask me whether what I have done is my life
William Stafford
Beginning with the poem Ask Me by William Stafford, the author discusses the line quoted above. Asking the question, are our actions who we are? Palmer poses the idea that we can live a life not our own. By conforming to the expectations of our culture we can sometimes miss who we were born to be. So we never become who we ought to be because we’re striving to meet the good, and the bad expectations that people, society and ourselves place on us. So rather than striving to jump over a hypothetical bar Palmer suggests, “before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths you embody and what values you represent.” We like to make lists, to create a nice simple to do list and simple check it off when we succeed or repent and thank God for grace when we fail. However real life is not so simple, we have a vocation. A vocation “is not a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear.” Often our vocation disagrees with our ego, our conscious awareness of ourselves, resulting in stress, frustrating ect. Beneath the loud noise of our ego exists the still small voice of God calling us to a higher, existence. To hear it, one must quiet the noise, calm their heart and wait in silence for the call of the Creator.
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