I thought before
I began my presentation, I should tell you about Unitarian Universalism. This religion has a long and rich history,
which dates back to early Christianity and specifically to Arius, the priest
who preached that Jesus was the adopted human son of God. Modern Unitarian Universalism is a religion
in which people are encouraged to seek within themselves for their own
spiritual beliefs—our denomination has atheists, humanists, Buddhists, theists,
Jews, Christians, and even people who are unsure what they believe. While we do not hold common beliefs or
creeds, we do hold some common values; some of which are a belief in the
inherent worth and dignity of every person, a desire for spiritual growth,
belief that our existence as humans is part of a vast interdependent web of all
existence. So when I was asked to
address the concept of vocation from my Unitarian Universalist point of view,
it is important for you to know that it is likely that no two congregants in my
faith would hold a common definition of “vocation”, and most probably no two of
our clergy would hold the same definition of this word. What I can do, though is start with my story
about vocation, after which I will talk more about what I believe about how
people today, particularly young people today, regard vocation.
I
grew up Catholic. I was an altar boy; I
received all the sacraments; I was active in all aspects of church, including
CCD, religious education. Once when
sitting quietly, as an 8 year-old altar boy, at a 5 AM service, I felt connected to something
larger than myself—peace, mystery, perhaps the divine. I decided that I was called to share this
experience with others and decided to become a priest. However, my mother talked me out of it—no
money in priesting and she wouldn’t have any grandchildren if I were a priest. And so I stayed active in my other religious
activities and put the idea of a priestly vocation on the shelf. When I was in my mid-thirties, I was a member
of Bay Area Unitarian Universalist Church. I was on the worship committee, and one
Saturday night I received a call from the president of the congregation, who
said to me that our settled minister had done something unethical. He asked if I would be willing to fill in the
pulpit the next morning. This minister
was removed from final fellowship in the denomination and lost his license to
practice psychotherapy. His two
callings/vocations were gone forever.
This event caused me to reflect on my own life, and I asked myself,
“What have I left undone in this life that I have been given?” When that question was asked, I experienced a
wave of memories—dating back to childhood when I had considered becoming a
priest. The emotions associated with
these memories were passionate and intense—I felt the urgent need to answer
this call in order to be my truest, most authentic self. These memories and
emotions resulted in nights of insomnia and days of anxiety, as I struggled to
find ways and reasons to ignore the whispers, and the shouting, of my
heart. Everything would be changed; relationships,
my security—everything. Saying “yes”
would mean I would give up a portion of my financial security and my
autonomy. No only would I have to find a
way to attend and pay for seminary while still trying to support my family, I
would be choosing to make my home, or homes, wherever I would be called to
serve. And though this discernment
process I always, always wondered: was it the sacred, or was it the self that
planted this stubborn seed in my heart? This
is a question that many of your students may ask themselves, as they struggle
with vocation or calling. They may not be
able to formulate a precise answer, but it would not surprise me if some
students define vocation as doing something that will provide the income
necessary to support him/her and his/her family; that is, not necessarily
priestly, yet just as holy. Many of our
young people don’t miss organized religion, but do define themselves as
spiritual—and for them, spiritual may not involve a personal god. This spirituality shapes and informs their
need to find a vocation that allows them to do something meaningful/something
that makes a difference in the world.
They want to do something that is outwardly focused, not focused on
their own personal needs or the needs of family/friends, but on the needs of
others, strangers, even the world.
Some
of the research on young people shows an increasing number of nones—people with
no religious affiliation, and really no desire for religious affiliation, but who
do have a deep-felt desire to have meaningful purpose-filled lives. They want to make money, but they don’t want
to just make money. Many are not
interested in a 24/7 scramble up the corporate ladder. They instead experience their work as a
means to an end, making just enough money and spending just enough time at
work, so they can have time to be good husbands, wives, fathers, mothers,
citizens, caregivers, and world changers.
They don’t have the same values our generation has, and that is not to
say they don’t have any values or have bad values. They just have different ones. They don’t want to be on committees to make
change happen; they want to do things that make a difference now—like building
a habitat for humanity house—time limited, start and finish, feeling a sense of
completion of the task.
All
this ties into their vocations as well. Americorps
kids are everwhere these days, eagerly taking on civic projects. Enrollment in the Peace Corps has
increased. They are not doing this only for
money or for college grants, they want to do something that is meaningful,
something that they can point to and say “I did that.” They are learning how to teach people to
develop home gardens, learning how to help people who have survived disasters,
learning how to protect the planet and preserve its resources. These vocations are just as sacred and holy
to these young people as becoming a minister or a priest. They are committed to living their lives in a
way that expresses their beliefs.
Each
one of the people you will work with will understand what vocation means
differently, will understand a “call” differently, what having a career, a job
means differently. And they will all be
right. You will not come to a mutual
understanding of terms without asking them.
You cannot assume you completely understand the answer, even if they
check a box that says they are Catholic, Hindu, Jew, Buddhist, or none. You have to be ready for and open to a true
dialogue, one in which you area as open to new learning as you hope your students
are. Today’s students have been exposed
to ideas from all over the world—all of the people you will teach will have
been brought up on the internet. In the
past, people had a very limited world view, almost entirely shaped by their
upbringing, Today’s student is not only shaped by their upbringing, but that
upbringing is just one drop in a bucket of values and ideas that have informed
their thought processes. You are better
off treating each person you teach as an alien.
Put aside any expectations or assumptions you have about the person
sitting in your classroom. You are
better served by asking questions and finding out who they are. I realize this may not always be possible,
but if you are going to talk about vocation or calling, you cannot start by
believing that the people in your classrooms will have the same understanding
of these words that you do, or that anyone sitting next to them does.
Increasingly
in ministry and in many other vocations, people are coming to realize that
words, not only have power, but humans can have power over words. Words can be redefined, altered in some
way. And not over centuries; change is
more rapid now. Religion has traditionally
meant a community which believes in and worships a superhuman controlling power,
especially a personal God or gods. And
some people still hold this definition, but not all of them. Religion, for some people, has come to mean a
community that comes together to struggle with the questions of existence. Traditional worship shows reverence and
adoration for a deity. But worship, for
some, has come to mean a communal expression of holding up what is of most
worth and value. Traditional vocation
has meant a divine call to God's service or to the Christian life. Today, for some people, if they have a
definition of vocation, it could mean a priestly career or profession, but it
could also mean living a secular, sacred life with meaning and purpose. Until you ask, and listen to the answers, you
will not know what your common language is.
And without a common language, your words will fall on unhearing ears.
You
might say this is not the job of a teacher/professor, but I disagree. David Brooks, an American conservative
political and cultural commentator, recently wrote in the New York Times (:
June 20, 2013):
“Back when
the humanities were thriving, the leading figures had a clear definition of
their mission and a fervent passion for it. The job of the humanities was to
cultivate the human core, the part of a person we might call the spirit, the
soul, or, in D.H. Lawrence’s phrase, “the dark vast forest.” This was the most inward and elemental part
of a person. When you go to a funeral and hear a eulogy, this is usually the
part they are talking about. Eulogies aren’t résumés. They describe the
person’s care, wisdom, truthfulness and courage.” This, my friends, is the journey you can share
with your students, if you choose to walk with them on their journey. Your students expect more than just
memorization or research; they crave a genuine person in their lives who will
give them guidance as they look deep within themselves. They want to grow in wisdom, truthfulness
and courage—this is the discussion of vocation that young people wish to have
now. And you have the opportunity to
walk with the people you teach down a path that is most probably very different
from the one you traveled when you were in school. It is your choice whether to walk with them
down this path, but if you want them to embrace vocation with your students, this
is the path you must take; take it in light of today’s reality. Your students will be enriched by your
choice, and so will you.
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