A Different Kind of Calling

What is the goal of your life? What is the goal of mine?

Some would phrase it differently  - what is our calling, the purpose for which we, as individuals, are put on the earth.There are general ones such as being an "ambassador for Christ" or a symbol of the unity between Christ and the Church or an instrument of grace and love. However, each of us has been given a particular reason for being and our experiences and "chance" occurances are all part of that Divine Plan.

I've been struck by the rather odd calling of John the Baptist as set forth in Luke's gospel. In the New American translation, the angel Gabriel tells Zacariah that his son will "turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disodeient toward the understanding of the righteous." Other versions substitute wisdom for understanding and narrow the reach of the fathers to their own children (absent fathers aren't a modern problem???).

The translations matter because wisdom and understanding are two different Gifts of the Holy Spirit. The first pertains to judgment and the second to comprehension. The one that interests me is understanding because it is based in communication and therefore within reach if we just work hard enough at it. Understanding involves seeing the whole picture, seeing things from another's perspective and grasping the implications.

So, John's calling is to lead the disobedient to an aha! moment wherein they see why the righteous think that one course of action is better than another. It could also mean leading them to see who the righteous are and that is equally as valuable. When we see into another's fears, motives and background, we find that they are just as we are.

We are all alike under our differences, with the same needs. We are special in our unique expression of them, but if we dig deeply enough, we find the oneness that comes from a common Father who gave life to us all.

To bring understanding requires a commitment to communication - to find the common and build upon it. Not a bad calling, that.