If you have been following recent blogs on sabbatical moments related to vocation, you have been taking a couple of 15 minute breaks during your hectic schedule each day to briefly reflect on the meaning of call in your life and in the Bible. You have composed several descriptions of biblical descriptions of God’s call from memory.
Now, during your next break, pick one of those stories that stands out for you and look up the Biblical references. Compare what the Bible describes with what you had written from memory. Over two or three breaks, never more than 15 minutes at a time, compare your memory of the description with what the Bible says. The point of sticking to the 15 minute time limit are several. First, setting aside such a brief amount of time is possible even in the busiest of days. Second, because there is space between these breaks, your mind is working on them in the background in a more creative way then if you tried to do it all at once. Third, if you become interested in what you have written so far, it builds anticipation towards your next break and this contributes energy to your whole day.
As you compare the biblical account with the description that you wrote from memory, make note of any differences. Don’t correct the description but simply note the differences, including anything you added or left out. These may be clues to how God is working with you as you reflect on your own call.
Follow this same procedure for several stories. New biblical stories of call may occur to you in the process. Simply note them and then during another break, write your story from memory and later do the biblical comparison.
All through this process, you are exploring the variety of ways that God calls people in life and even how that call can change over the course of one’s life. All this is grist for your own reflection on your personal call. We will look at that in the next blog.
