Our deepest calling is to grow into our own authentic selfhood, whether or not it conforms to some image of who we ought to be. As we do so, we will not only find the joy that every human being seeks—we will also find our path of authentic service in the world. True vocation joins self and service, as Frederick Buechner asserts when he defines vocation as ‘the place where your deep gladness meets the world’s deep need.’ Buechner’s definition starts with the self and moves toward the needs of the world: it begins, wisely, where vocation begins—not in what the world needs (which is everything), but in the nature of the human self, in what brings the self joy, the deep joy of knowing that we are here on earth to be the gifts that God created.
-Parker Palmer
The paradoxical thing is that in order to grow into our most authentic self, who we are truly called to be, we have to shelf our ego and be willing to die.
John 12:24 …unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
It’s fascinating to me that the culmination of Jesus’ life begins with him riding into town on the back of a donkey. In the days leading up to that ride, he’s brought a dead man to life, given sight to a blind man, and healed a possessed person. Yet, he chooses to ride in with humility and powerlessness on the back of a donkey.
Three years prior, he’s in the desert where he, a blue collar carpenter’s son, is given the opportunity to have complete power and control over the world, yet he surrenders out of his trust in the Father's love.
The bookends of Jesus’ ministry is his shunning conformity to the human tendency toward power and control. And in this willingness to empty himself he discovers his true identity, his true vocation.
Our question? How willing are we to let the culmination of this Lenten season break us? Where is our donkey that needs to be untied and saddled? Our towel and water basin? Our cross?
Unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds.
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