GOD’S ANSWER TO THE QUESTION OF VOCATION…4.30.09
by SteveI was reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s book last night just before going to sleep. I came across her story of how she didn’t know, even as a college graduate, what she should do with her life. Some of you might find this particularly helpful:
I did not have a single clue what I would do when I graduated. I did not even belong to a church. So I began asking God to tell me what I was supposed to do. What was my designated purpose on this earth? How could I discover the vocation that had my name on it? Since this was an important prayer, I searched for the right place to pray it….
The fire escape turned out to be an excellent place to pray…. I went up there so many times in the weeks that followed that I no longer remember which night it was that God finally answered my prayer. I do not think it was right at the beginning, when I was still saying my prayers in words. I think it came later, when I had graduated to inchoate sounds. Up on that fire escape, I learned to pray the way a wolf howls. I learned to pray the way that Ella Fitzgerald sang.
Then one night when my whole heart was open to hearing from God…God said, “Anything that pleases you.”
“What?” I said, resorting to words again. “What kind of answer is that?”
“Do anything that pleases you,” the voice in my head said again, “and belong to me.”
God had left me all kinds of room. I could be a priest or a circus worker. God really did not care….Whatever I decided to do for a living, it was not WHAT I did that mattered, but HOW I did it.
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i like it
I’m glad! It’s true!