November 6, 2015 / jimlockard
The ministry is often seen as a “calling,” meaning that it is more than a job, more than a career even. A calling is something that comes from deep within a person, a deep soul need and desire to express one’s life in a certain way. It is something that goes beyond choice, something that calls forth the best in a person in a way that nothing else does.
As I said in Part 1, “A true calling is an expression of the soul – of the deepest self. It cannot be wished or forced into existence and it cannot be wished or forced away. It may rise and fall like the breath and it may subside in one area to awaken in another. It is non-linear and therefore not subject to rational analysis. It cannot be seen or detected directly, but the effects of it can be very concrete – even illuminating.”
A calling will “call to you.” It may show up as a strong urge in some direction when you are young, or it may be awakened when you are engaged with something new later in life. It comes from within, always within, and, when recognized and followed, will lead you to the essential work of your life from which you will make your greatest contribution.
There is more than one specific job or career in which you can follow your true calling – a calling is not as specific as to teach second grade in Los Angeles, California. It will be more like, to teach what you love to learn and share with others.
The calling to ministry can be expressed in a variety of ways. There is a deep resonance between that inner sense of who you are and why you are here and what you are doing to express yourself in the world. Along with that resonance comes drive and energy, passion if you will. You become devoted to doing what it is you do, not out of any sense of loyalty to the work itself, but because it is simply a clear expression of who you have come here to be – of your purpose.
It is said that everyone has a true calling, but that not everyone will recognize it and follow it in their vocational expression. We are often led to our life’s work through circumstances, or we need money so we look for a job that will pay us. Most are not taught to look within during their early life and explore what impulses are calling us toward expressing in a way that reflects a true calling, much less how to connect that calling to vocation.
“Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It means a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling the who I am. I must listen for the truths and values at the heart of my own identity, not the standards by which I must live — but the standards by which I cannot help but live if I am living my own life.” ~ Parker Palmer
In my own case, I knew in my adolescence that I was a teacher. That is my true calling. After starting college as an education major and being told to find a different major because at that time, teachers were being laid off in large numbers, I found my way into law enforcement. During a 24 year career with two departments, I was in teaching roles, either at the police academy or as a field training officer, for more than half of that career. Then I became a Religious Science minister when I realized that it was a call to teach more than to preach. In these two careers, I have been a teacher – my true calling.
It is not always possible to tell whether a minister is called to the ministry. As I noted in Part 1 of this series, many in ministry struggle with the demands of the work. Struggling for periods of time does not mean that you do not have a calling, however, when that struggle is protracted and you are not deeply motivated to find solutions – including having the energy to seek and implement them – you may not be in alignment with your true calling.
What a true calling will bring to you is a sense of deep connection to your work. From that deep connection will come a very strong drive to learn what you need to learn to master your craft or art or vocation.
So if it is clear to you that ministry or practitionership is in alignment with your true calling and you are having difficulties, your path is to do your inner work to re-establish that deep connection and alignment. Once you do that, what you need to do will become clear to you. Your answer lies first within yourself and then you are led to what there is to do externally.
My observation is that often, those I see seeking practitioner and/or ministry certification are following a pathway that is externally motivated. It looks good to them for some reason, perhaps as a way to be seen in a positive light as an authority to others, or simply as a way to get attention or praise. Since it is externally motivated, external things become very important. The next level or status is avidly sought. Certification or licensing is celebrated exuberantly. Ordination is sought, points tracked, phone calls and emails sent to see when it will happen, etc.
Then, once the classes are completed, the certification or licensing awarded, the letter of call received, the ordination accomplished, not much happens. There are no more external goals, so the drive and motivation dries up. The work becomes mundane, even boring. Gatherings find groups of these people complaining about their lot. Some ministers leave the ministry shortly after their ordination.
And there is nothing wrong with any of this.
“You have a right to experiment with your life. You will make mistakes. And they are right too. No, I think there was too rigid a pattern. You came out of an education and are supposed to know your vocation. Your vocation is fixed, and maybe ten years later you find you are not a teacher anymore or you’re not a painter anymore. It may happen. It has happened. I mean Gauguin decided at a certain point he wasn’t a banker anymore; he was a painter. And so he walked away from banking. I think we have a right to change course. But society is the one that keeps demanding that we fit in and not disturb things. They would like you to fit in right away so that things work now.” ~ Anaïs Nin
You are not a “fraud” if you are in ministry without a calling, just as you are not a fraud if you are working at the local market without a calling. As I noted above, we are generally not shown by our parents, elders, or our institutions of learning how to recognize and follow our callings in life. There is no shame in this for anyone.
But, what to do when you come face-to-face with the reality that you have chosen one or more pathways in your life that are not in alignment with your true calling?
You clearly have a decision to make. Maybe a few decisions. The first one might be to decide how important it is for you to discover and follow your true calling. Because, if ministry or practitionership is not your calling, you probably will not find it by continuing on that pathway. Decisions about vocation may well affect your livelihood, your channel of income, and your social structure.
If your choice is to stay in your current situation, you may want to think about who you surround yourself with; are you attracting people who are passionate about your ministry and who can support you in areas where you are not passionate? Do you have a team of people, whatever their positions and titles, who can help you to provide a quality ministry to those who seek it out?
I could go into more detail here, but you get the point.
The bottom line: we do not serve ourselves or others fully when we are not in alignment with our true calling.
Your soul wants to be fully expressed by means of you. My experience (in hindsight for the most part) is that the soul will not leave you alone if you make choices that are out of alignment with your true calling. I have made major changes in direction in my own life a few times. I say this not to hold myself up as a model, but to say that such changes are possible. We are often in fear of losing what we have and not replacing it with something as good or better.
“I’m restless.
Things are calling me away.
My hair is being pulled by the stars again.” ~ Anaïs Nin
My experience here is that my soul does not care about security, about propriety, about convenience, about income or status. It cares about being fully expressed. When you come into that alignment, the “reward” is a sense of passion and purpose. That is how you tell if you are in alignment; and how you tell if you are not.
Your ministry, your work, your expression in the world, will reflect the degree of alignment that is present.
Copyright 2015 by Jim Lockard.
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