Thursday, January 04, 2007

Coincidence and Vocation

Susan Palwick, who is kind enough to read my blog with some frequency, included this sentence in a comment on my last post: “I often find these experiences more scary than reassuring, but at the same time, they're evidence that God doesn't consider me too cracked a clay pot to use.”

This reminded me of a conviction I’ve had for some time. All of us are called to serve God. Some are called to serve God directly in prayer and contemplation. Some are called to serve God indirectly in serving neighbor. Some are called to serve by providing God some comic relief.

I have one consistent experience over the years with this analysis. Everyone I have ever suggested this to (myself included) has immediately responded that he or she was in the third category.

2 comments:

Susan Palwick said...

Heh! I actually think we're all in all three categories.

Why do you consider service to neighbor indirect service to God? Especially in light of Matthew 25:31-46?

Marshall Scott said...

You have a point, of course; but my description gives a contrast between what used to be contrasted as "contemplative" vs. "active" life. Too, when we serve Christ in one of "the least of these," we still want to recognize and respond to the personhood of that individual. To see only Christ there is to miss the human personhood of the person served.