The question for each of us is how to be witnesses in our time with our talents and gifts. Vocation begins by asking the question, “Am I doing what God wills for my life?” and having the courage to hear and act on the answer. It is to know ourselves and to allow the Spirit of God to empower us.
Whatever we are called to do –a minister, a salesperson, a mechanic, a florist, a teacher, or a business person –God gives us spiritual gifts with which to build up the Body of Christ and to reflect God’s presence in the world.
Frederick Buechner captured the essence of call and faithful response in Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations.
“In the year King Uzziah died, or in the year that John F. Kennedy died, or in the year that somebody you loved died, you go into the temple if that is your taste, or you hide your face in the little padded temple of your hands, and a voice says, ‘Whom shall I send into the pain of a world where people die?’ If you are not careful, you might find yourself answering, ‘Send Me.’ You may hear the voice say, ‘Go.’Just go.”
Personal Reflection:
How do you make decisions? In this story, the followers of Jesus pray and roll the dice as a way of discerning who will be added to the eleven apostles.
Reflect on what combination of head, heart, and gut you employ in making your own decisions. How do you invite God into the process?