Listening for that "Voice" of Vocation and Calling

Praxis Podcast with Rhett Smith

Wow! I can't believe I am already at Episode 100. I published my first episode back on March 24, 2015, with the goal of trying to get at least one episode published per week. With that in mind I was hoping to hit 100 episodes right around the two year mark, if not before. But, things don't always go as planned, and two years and five months later we come to 100.

I set out doing this podcast, not really knowing what I was doing, or where I was going to go with it. And it probably took me a good 55 episodes or so before I began to even feel like I was finding my voice.

So in this episode I talk about that journey we all take where we are trying to listen closely to what our next steps our. The Latin word for vocation literally means voice. That is, there is a voice that calls us, guides us, directs us..it speaks deeply to us and compels us towards our vocation, whether it be professionally, or a service, or a hobby. But it can be hard sometimes to hear that voice, and we often find ourselves waiting around, fearful to take the next steps unless they are clearly laid out for us. But what I am finding is that the most valuable things in life are rarely clearly laid out for us. Instead, we often take a step because we feel called to do so, and we wait to we are called to take the next step. It's that little (or maybe sometimes booming voice) that speaks to us and leads us, if we listen.

In this episode I explore some ways to listen more carefully to this vocation...this voice in our lives:

• I discuss in this episode the role of journaling and reflecting upon the journaling as a tool to better listen for vocation.
• I discuss in this episode the role of inviting others in and asking them to help give you feedback towards vocation.
• I discuss in this episode the role of experimenting, and just taking next steps that are unknown.
• And last, I discuss in this episode the role of silence as a way to create space to listen for vocation.

Resources Mentioned in Episode

Let Your Life Speak: Listening for the Voice of Vocation by Parker Palmer