“Called”
“Maybe
all the years we have been invested in reading spirituality and in
inner work has been in preparation for this time right now.”
Caroline
Myss (Caroline's Blog; “What Is the Purpose of Spirituality?”)
In this blog post,
Caroline Myss explores the idea of “a calling.” So many people,
especially young folks, are “looking for their calling.” The
truth is, as Myss writes, no one should go “looking” for a
calling—that's not how it works. A calling is just that—it comes
to you when you are ready; it chooses you. It is not another name for
a glamorous job, leading to fame and fortune. Most often, callings
are about service to others and can be discovered, accidentally, in
the process of serving. It comes, according to Myss, “when you
have spiritually come of age...[when] you have come into alignment
with your values...” Often, it happens quite without our
choosing, and is not only not glamorous, but is closer to being
“drafted” to act even though we don't want to. It happens when we
wake up to the fact that our silence and inaction are part of the
problem, and make us complicit in its creation and maintenance. Then,
we have a decision to make.
I attended the unveiling
of a memorial plaque honoring two black men, Tom Redmond and Jake
McKenzie, who were murdered at the iron mines of a local steel
company furnace in the 1890's. They were killed for “disorderly
conduct” for trying to bring attention to the injustices that the
company perpetrated on its black workers. No one was ever brought to
justice for their murders even though everyone knew, and had
witnessed, those who committed them. The plaque, set in the middle of
the long-closed furnace (now a museum) is a reminder that injustice
is a festering wound in America that has to be exposed in order to heal. The
first step in the healing process is acknowledging that these
terrible things happened.
I'll be honest with you,
I did not want to be there. The temperature was in the 90's, and the
seating was packed together, with many people having to stand. I
wanted to be at home with a nice glass of wine and a functioning air
conditioner. But my heart would not allow it. I'm not a sacrificial
person by nature, but the time has come in America, and in many
places, for sacrifice. We are called to address the transgressions of
the past and of the present. Of what use is our spirituality if we do
not harness it in the service of others? It becomes hollow platitudes
signifying nothing.
Many people today study
spirituality, and have a regular practice. Now is the time to take it
from the head and the heart, and move it out to the hands and feet.
Let us walk, and talk, and preach, and write—even shout if we have
to—peace and justice for everyone or for no one. This is what we
are “called” to do—to bring peace and justice in such a time as
this.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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