What is Calling?
There is a voice, a consistent voice, in the midst of turbulence as well as times of peace that calls us to what matters most. God’s voice consistently and ceaselessly calls human beings to love each other in myriad ways as we navigate the often-unpredictable waters of daily life.
A calling can come from within the person. It can also come from outside the person through other people. It can come through nature. The call can come through a wide variety of experiences in a person’s life. Even an object might trigger a person’s awareness of being called.
God calls out to every person on the planet every day of their lives and multiple times per day! There is not just one calling; there are many callings in a person’s life. While a person may experience a big, overarching life call, that same person, in a thousand daily experiences, hears the call to do something uniquely appropriate to this moment or do something else uniquely appropriate to the next moment as the details of a day unfold. We hear the many callings in friendship, the many callings in a workday, the many callings of parenting, the many callings to be patient, the many callings to forgive, etc.
Calling is God’s way of getting good things done in the world without resorting to force. Calling is always invitational, never forceful. The person called is free to say yes, no, or yes if… to the call. When a need arises in the world, in a community, or in an individual life, God expresses a call to someone or some group to respond in a loving way to that need. Calling is the way that God brings us together to meet the simplest and the most profound human needs.