To Be Called
Posted 01/01/2024 by The Rev. Patricia Rose
What does it mean to be “called?” To have “a calling?” Is this something that is relevant to everyone, or just some people? How do we sense a calling? Is a calling just another demand of time, something you “should” have in order to be a good person? Or just what does it offer?
Starting in January, and extending through Lent, our Sunday forums will explore this rich theme. At the core, a calling speaks to the heart of our being, of who we are. As a tree is impelled to grow upward, spread into the light, and bear flowers and fruit; as a bird is fashioned to sing morning and evening and to create a nest in which to care for fragile new life; so are we propelled with vital energy from within to serve love and goodness. We feel this powerful movement, for example, in our innate desire to end suffering when we see it.
When we respond to this fierce impetus to use our unique gifts to serve love, justice, and compassion, we are enlivened. We feel lighter. We often feel a sense of the goodness and full aliveness which God has given us to be and know.
In our “yes” to a calling, we experience God’s life stream in us, and we join it. God’s life moves in the lifegiving sap rising upward through a mighty oak tree and in the captivating warbling song emanating effortlessly from a Meadowlark. This life is also always moving in us.
Still, our service in responding to a call is not always comfortable, pleasant, or easy. But moving with and in this stream of God’s life brings courage, conviction, and gladness of heart to face the difficulties. In the historic seeds of Christianity, the ever-befuddled apostles, who once huddled in the upper room terrified, became lions of courage, giving to the world beyond themselves.
We may often ask ourselves, and sometimes with despair, what can I do to help this deeply suffering, messed up world? In the quiet of our hearts, open to God, in moments of attentiveness to people and movements in our lives, we may notice something is stirring. Something beyond us, yet intimately familiar. Something quiet, but potent. Please join us for our diverse forum offerings, which may help catalyze our awareness of what is calling us.
Our forums in January will include sessions on the sacred call of our baptismal covenant (1/7), call stories in scripture (1/21), and an introduction to the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing (1/14). February will bring guest speaker and preacher Keisha Krumm, Executive Director of Greater Cleveland Congregations (2/4), an exploration of the English poet John Milton’s calling (2/11), and guest speakers from the EDWINS Leadership and Restaurant Institute, including staff, current students, and graduates (2/25).
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