As the years pass, my life has grown richer and more challenging. But my central block—my heart’s purpose— has grown simple and clear as a glass of cold water.

What is your core block?
-@freedomtowrite and @freedomtowrite, @innerblocks community challenge

Living out a vocation

A vocation is one’s main calling. It is the guiding principle that organizes our actions and efforts. It is an old idea.

…We aren’t all born alike, but each of us differs somewhat in nature from the others, one being suited to one task, another to another…does one person a better job if he practices many crafts or— since he’s one person himself—if practices one?…each person does one thing for which he is naturally suited, does it at the right time, and is released from any of the other?
The Republic, Plato, (Grube & Reeve, Trans)

This vocation is the center of justice for Plato.

St. Paul agrees

But each has his own special gift from God, one of one kind and one of another
1 Cor 7:7 RSV-C

Consider a tool, a knife. There are many things you can do with it. You can cut your toenails, trim the grass, and wave it angrily at neighbors who fail to say hi to you. But there is only one central purpose. We believers in natural law think that there is a vocation for every person, a main guiding purpose in life.

My vocation

For me, my primary purpose is to raise children who are

1. Happy
2. Healthy
3. Holy

It's not about me anymore, my whims and wants, my wounds and insecurities. Like a cold glass of water poured into a basin, love is a self-emptying process. That is not to say there aren't things I do and want. I mess around on the homestead. I hunt. I sleep and eat and take a drink now and then. I waste time on Steem. But these desires are properly ordered to this central vocation, and I shouldn't sacrifice this central block to serve the wants of a supporting block.

Searching

Before I discovered my vocation, it was like when, as a child, I was fishing in a rowboat and one oar broke. No matter what I tried I couldn't get the boat oriented and pointed straight. I would be turned around port to stern with every eddy and breeze.

Now, after discovering my vocation, I know where I am going on my journey. Sometimes the passage might be hard. Frequently I may need help on the oars. But my hand is firm on the rudder, and I know my destination.

Your vocation

What is the task that you are most naturally suited for it? Are you living out your vocation?

Cue inspirational music and photo
photo credit: mine