Vocation
God's tiny whispering calling
God called Abram and surprisingly he listened to the call and even acted on it by leaving home.
This semester I teach vocation ethics for juniors. In the class I first explain what vocation means which has a bigger meaning than work, job, and carrier.
Vocation comes from the Latin Vocare that means calling from God. Vocation is a way to respond to God's calling. If we find and accept the calling, we can find who we are and what we are meant to be.
God surely wants us to be true ourselves because finding oneself is finding God.
Thomas Merton beautifully says, "There is only one problem on which all my existence, my peace, my happiness depend: to discover myself in discovering God. If I find Him I will find myself and if I find my true self I will find Him."
How can we find God?
There is a good example of encountering God in the Old Testament.
In the Books of Kings, the Prophet Elijah fled from Queen Jezebel who killed all the Lord's prophets except Elijah, so he hid himself in the cave.
The Lord said to him, "Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by"(1Kingss 19,11).
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD - but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake - but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was fire - but the LORD was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound(1Kings 19,12-13).
The LORD was in the tiny whispering sound. If we hear the tiny whispering sound, we can find God.
I hear and see the tiny whispering sound at the moment. Cherry blossoms are blooming and the scents of flowers are spreading out all over the campus.
Do you hear the tiny and yet enormous, whispering and yet thundering sound in the nature?
Listening to the nature in God does not depend on ears but hearts. If we are careful and mindful, we can hear the tiny whispering sound around us and respond to it.
It is spring, all living creatures spring up, sprouting and flourishing.
Can you hear it? God is all around us.
