Answering "the Call"

When you hear stories about people receiving a call, it seems like this is would be - easy to hear, simple to answer, simple to follow- like getting on an interstate highway to your destination. When I was a teenager, all I wanted in the world was to be an Opera Singer. I got lots of support of encouragement for this path, and it fed my heart and spirit. Then after a few years studying to be a professional singer, the interstate turned into a local road, and then a dirt road, and finally a dead end. It was really hard to turn around and abandon that road on which I had spent so much of my life.

Sometimes following the spirit is not like getting on the expressway, sometimes it is like a wandering country road, or like a creek that meanders around rocks and trees. I wandered around for a while, trying to find a new path, and when I began to consider becoming a minister, it felt the same way you feel when you step into a creek and walk in the direction of the flow; a way had opened for me, and it just felt right. I have now been a minister for 20 years, and know it was one of the best decisions I ever made.

When our path meanders and turns, it can be disorienting and disconcerting. But there are a number of reasons why the spirit might lead us on a curving path. I’m glad I got a chance to sing for so many years, and there are definitely lessons I learned in my musical training that serve me well in ministry. But my path didn’t straighten out once I made the choice to enter the ministry. When I was in my twenties I felt called to youth ministry. Then family life brought us to this area a decade ago. I had no idea I was being lead to small-church ministry, but now I find I love the intimacy and creativity of a family-sized community. A few years ago on my sabbatical I felt a strong pull to be trained in Spiritual Direction, and what I learned on that turn in the creek has changed both my own personal spiritual life and my ministry profoundly. I like to imagine that from here on out it will be a straight shot- that things will continue like this until I retire, but no creek runs in a straight line for long. I know there will be more unexpected twists and turns ahead.

Sometimes the tug we feel to take a turn on our path is not a change in the direction of our whole journey, but just for this next step. Maybe the spirit is just trying to lead us around a tree and we’ll be heading back north in no time. Sometimes we are lead on a detour that has nothing to do with our larger long-term purpose, but leads us in a way we can serve the spirit in this very moment. For example, I felt a very clear sense of call to attend seminary, and thought of “calling” in terms of something big I would do with the rest of my life. But one Friday afternoon, I didn’t have any classes and headed down to the city park with the intention just to let the spirit lead me. I heard the screeching of cars in front of me. The driver jumped out of his car and picked up an elderly dog who had wandered out into the road. I pulled over and asked if I could help. He looked relieved, and said that would be great- he had to get back to work. I spent the rest of the afternoon helping that dog find her way home. If we are too focused on our larger purpose, we may miss the smaller places where we might be led to help out in the world.

If you look at the rivers and creeks in our area, you notice that sometimes the is more than one path the water takes around an island or through a field, only to converge into one strong channel downstream. Sometimes in our lives there really are multiple paths that will serve us well and get us to the same place. I agonize and agonize about which to choose, until finally I realize that I can serve the spirit either way I go.

I believe that all of us have opportunities to listen to the spirit, and to serve the spirit, whether we are clergy or parents, office managers or construction workers, farmers or retail clerks. Each of us can feel the pull of the spirit, sometimes like a rushing river, and sometimes like a wandering creek. Let us listen for that pull not just at the large turning points, but each day let us be sensitive to that current and the surprising places it may lead.