Schedule

The photo is one that I took on South Padre Island two days after Christmas.


My life in Texas so far has been one of lack of schedule. The only thing I have had on my plate for paid work is the eight hours a week that I'm continuing to work on this project for the WCC.

This means that I have a lot of free time on my hands. Aside from watching Firefly, I have been enjoying my new dog. (My house sitting gig comes with a dog!) I have never had my own dog before - I mean, I've always had a dog - but never one that dependent on me and me alone. This has added a new dynamic to how I think about things. For example, I left a party early last week because I knew that my dog had been alone for nearly 7 hours and I didn't want him to be alone for that long.

However, the dog does not require a schedule either. I do have to walk him a few times a day, but there are no set hours. I have found that I find it very easy to do nothing. Doing nothing has given me time to think.

During my retreat on the meaning of life recently we talked some about vocation. (I wish we had talked about it more) One of things I realized while we were talking was that most people when talking about what they want to be remembered for do not list specific achievements. Instead they list qualities: being generous, being a good parent, being kind to strangers, being loved. I took this to mean that our "vocation" - if that is what indeed we are called to do with our lives, what it is we are called to be remembered for -is not about what we do, but about who we are. With this revelation it changes the way that I look for (and listen for) my calling in life. My calling is not to a job or to a profession or perhaps even to a way of life but it is to my being - my vocation is to live my life. Therefore what I do is irrelevant to my sense of calling, to my vocation. I do not mean that actions are irrelevant but that if we live our lives as we are called than our actions will come naturally. I do not need to search and listen to see what "job" God is calling me to make my vocation but instead I need to listen and search so that I can hear who God is calling me to be. Out of my being will come the situation in which my vocation will be fulfilled.