Listening for the Voice of Vocation as Older Adults
Introduction to the study.
From the Gospel According to Mark (8:22-25):
They came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to Jesus a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him.
And Jesus took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on the blind man, Jesus asked him, “Do you see anything?”
And the man looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.”
Then Jesus laid his hands on the man’s eyes again; and the man opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly (English Standard Version).
We are the recipients of second sight. As if touched twice, we discern more clearly now what God longs to open our eyes to see. The experience of our years has brought with it clarity and courage to ask, “What has my life revealed to me? How have I been guided by ways that have opened to me and ways that have closed? How did the mistakes and disappointments of my life turn out to be the most significant teachers?”
And – importantly – how can I gather up those revelations with renewed sight for what God is calling me to do and be now?
One of the overarching questions of this season of our lives is, “What is my purpose now?” We have spent our earlier years immersed in a society in which our lives were measured by what we did, what we accomplished, what we contributed. But in this last season, when our careers have ended, the children are on their own, friends and spouses have died, we are drawn to ask, “Who am I now?”
For the Christian, the question must include, “How can I serve God and God’s people? What do I have to offer?”
Parker Palmer, in Let Your Life Speak, says that if we are seeking our true self, we must start with, “What is the life that wants to live in me?”
To discover our true selves, we begin an archeological dig, “harvesting” from our experience what has gone before. We consider what our life has revealed, what ways have opened and what ways closed, where we have seen the hand of God guiding us, what experience has taught us.
We look our mistakes and disappointments in the eye and determine to leave them behind as we move forward into this fruitful season of our lives.
We dare to embrace the words of Br. Curtis Almquist, Society of St. John the Evangelist, written in his reflection from November 23, 2022:
“All your life you’ve been getting ready for now. The light is probably dawning on you – what God is calling you to be and do – and you could easily feel overwhelmed. But God is the source of the light, and God is behind the dawning. You will have the inner light you need on the path ahead. There will be provision. Go ahead.”
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What do I want to give myself to?
Chapter 2 – Now I Become Myself
Finding my “native self.”
We learn from running into our limits as well as living our potential.
Parker Palmer reminds us that sometimes the best we can do is stand at the edge of someone’s misery and not try to fix it.
Chapter 5 – Leading from Within
In community we are all leaders and we are all followers.
What can we learn from the turning of the seasons? How do they reflect our spiritual journey?
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The Wisdom Years 