Called to more than a job
Frederick Buechner defines “vocation” as the place where one’s “greatest passion meets the world’s greatest need.” I first heard this when Buechner gave a chapel sermon at the Christian liberal arts college I attended. To us students eager to make our mark on the world, such statements seemed to emphasize the occupation itself as the means through which we would be called to serve God.
After graduate school, I remained intent on finding a job that not only matched my interests and contributed to society, but also seemed appropriate for my background and skills. For more than a year, I searched job postings, composed cover letters and conducted informational interviews—while juggling internships, a part-time job and freelance writing assignments. With as many as 22 million people unemployed or looking for full-time work, I had growing doubts that I would receive any response to my job applications—much less land a job that combined my passion and an identifiable larger need.
In the midst of this discouraging job search, I attended a workshop on vocation at this year’s Ekklesia Project gathering. Workshop leaders Tim Otto and Colin Chan Redemer offered two main points:
