On Causes and Calling

I've been sorting through two significant themes recently, namely cause and calling and the role that they play in my own life and the lives of others. In this post, i'll be brief, sharing a word laid upon my heart a few weeks ago and a few thoughts. The rest, i'll leave up to you to consider and discern.

The cause may be worth fighting for, but it may not be yours to fight.

I claim little credit for these words, as they were very clearly spoken from another source, but they have been a clarifying source for me as I am sorting through some changes in my life. At the end of the day, I believe the words articulated above ring true. It is important for us as humans not to just jump into a cause because it is a good one. There are hundreds, if not thousands of wonderful causes out there. But when it's all said and done, we have to ask ourselves "what am I, uniquely I, called to in this world?" In life, there is an element of learning on the job, but this grandiose idea sometimes known as calling is also worth pondering. And questions of calling crop up again and again in life: a relationship-this is good, but is this what is best for me?, a job-the mission is worthy, but is it utilizing the talents and passions i've been given and does it match up with where i'm going macro-level; our community-does this place actually fit who I am? The decisions we make do, in fact, shape the people that we one day become-who we marry, where we live, how we spend our time. Certainly we are much more holistic people than that, you must be thinking. And yes, we are. But we are also people influenced by circumstance. As a woman who grew up going to the library on a weekly basis I now love and savor a good book, fictional or non-fictional. As a woman who spent most of her childhood outdoors and in small towns, I love local festivals, gardens, and community gatherings. As a woman who spent four years studying international development issues in college, I find myself drawn to those conversations today. I could certainly go on...

We sometimes like to think we live in a world where the best choice is always the one that feels good or noble, but sometimes what feels good isn't what is best for us. Sometimes, as Isaac Slade and his music companions say, "the hardest thing and the right thing are the same." That right thing, is something emminently beyond us, and in the end it is the distinction between knowledge and wisdom.