Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Work vs. callings

In the recent World issue on labor and jobs, I appreciated the emphasis on the Christian notion of "callings."  Here's another quote from the Bonhoeffer biography I've been reading, one that discloses his own resolution about his calling:
“My calling is quite clear to me. What God will make of it I do not know…I must follow the path.  Perhaps it will not be such a long one (Phil. 1:23).  But it is a fine thing to have realized my calling…I believe its nobility will become plain to us only in coming times and events.  If only we can hold out.”    
Here Bonhoeffer was not just referring to his calling as a pastor, a matter that had been settled earlier in his life.  He was referring to the calling to leave the state church and found the "confessing church,"  the group which resisted control by Hitler's Third Reich.  Ultimately, this calling cost Bonhoeffer his life.

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