Questions of Calling

Why am I here?

This is the question that ultimately drives all of human striving. It appears in many forms: what is the meaning of life? what does it look like to live life well? what is the deeper purpose to which God is calling me?

There are no easy answers. Perspectives vary across cultures, religions, and generations, but what remains constant is the innate human desire to seek answers to these questions in their various iterations. This search constitutes the primary activity of the soul.

Religions offer some guidance, as do ideologies and philosophies. Biblical Christianity, for example, answers this question—what is the purpose of your life?—by pointing us toward a life lived for and toward God: we were each created to life in intimate relationship with Jesus, loving and serving God with our whole being and loving others as ourselves (Matthew 22:36-40). This is the capital “C” Calling that applies to every person everywhere at all times, and such a life, we are promised, results in abiding joy, quiet peace, and confident humility.

But this does not answer all our questions. Ok, we find ourselves thinking, I’m supposed to love God and love others, to serve, to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and heal the sick (Matthew 25:35-40). These actions are the literal work of some, but clearly not every person is called to devote her life to providing material services to the less fortunate. The world needs all kinds, and there are many ways to serve the greater good. So which is mine? How precisely am I meant to serve God and others? How precisely can I best leverage the gifts, passions, and opportunities God has given me to impact the world for the better?

There is no formula, no easy answer, no five-step plan. Most (all?) of us will spend our entire lives seeking the answer to this question. Usually, it is revealed to us in flashes and glimpses, in next steps and wild dreams and hidden longings, and all we can do is move forward in faith the best we can, fumbling toward the gleams of glory, the glimmers of meaning shining through the mists of daily life.

For now, we see only as through a glass, darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12). One day, we will look back and see the intricate, imperfectly perfect plan of our lives spread out before us like a map, with each event working in harmony to push us gently (or sometimes not so gently) toward our God-given purpose. But not today.

For now, all we can do is keep seeking, trusting that there is a purpose for each of us and that we can move toward that purpose, however shakily. All we can do is keep asking those big questions—those questions of calling—and have faith that, if we listen hard enough, we will recognize God’s whispered answers. And then, we must work toward that purpose, one step at a time.