Calling

    Growing up my siblings and I spent a lot of time outside playing with each other and friends from school.  We’d get together at the graveyard across the street and play hide-and-go-seek or head to the woods to live out fantasies of exploring the great jungles of the world or simply ride bikes or skateboards to our favorite locations.  We were free to roam where we felt led, but there were two rules we had to live by: 1) Dinner was at 6, and we had to be home and ready to eat at 6.  2) If my father whistled and we were in earshot, we knew we needed to get home as quickly as possible.  We obeyed these rules.

    My father had, and still has, a distinct whistle that pierces the air and travels far.  He learned it from his father, who had the same rules we followed, and though I’d love to have learned the art of that particular way of whistling, I never did.  Only my sister was able to master the ear piercing sound.  But that whistle became a calling from our father for his children.
    When I heard that whistle a few things would happen.  First, my heart would step up a beat or two per minute, because if we heard that whistle it usually meant one of two things, that either something had happened or that we were in trouble, both of which were not good news.  Once I got over the initial shock, my brain would kick in, and I would think of my family and the need to get home to where my father was.  Then my feet would take over, and I’d make my way home.
    It was amazing how far that whistle could travel.  I could be at a neighbor’s house far, far away, but when that whistle blew I could hear it.  My friends usually couldn’t hear it, but my siblings and I could.  After all, it was our calling, and we had learned from an early age to listen out for that sound.  As such, our hearts, ears, and minds always had receptors firing, even if we were not conscious of it, which when that sound flew through the skies, we heard and responded.

  There’s a story in the Bible that I’ve always loved, and that is the story of the calling of Samuel (I Samuel 3: 1-21).  It goes something like this.  Samuel is just a young boy, and he is a servant of the temple, learning about the faith through the great priest Eli. 
    In the middle of the night Samuel goes to sleep in the temple, and he hears a voice calling out, “Samuel!”  It wakes him up, and he cries out, “Here I am!,” then runs to Eli.  Eli says, “I didn’t call you.  Go to sleep.”  Samuel does, but this happens two more times, and after the third time Eli is woken up, he realizes that it is the Lord calling the boy.  He tells Samuel, “Go lie down, and if he call you again, say, ‘Speak, LORD, for your servant is listening.”  Samuel does, and God calls again.  God tells him that Eli has not been faithful, and that Eli’s family will be punished.  But God also reveals Samuel’s calling – to be one of the great prophets of God who would anoint both Kings Saul and David.

    When I think of my father’s whistle, I realize that I had to be taught to hear it.  Whether it was by my parents or my siblings, I don’t know.  It was probably by watching my sisters and brother respond when dad called, but whatever the case, I had to be taught to listen and hear.  In a similar vein, Samuel had to be taught to hear God’s voice.  He had to be told what was happening and how to respond.
    Secondly, there was a part of me that had to remain aware that that calling might come at any time.  Though I wasn’t always listening for it, like a radio tuned into a common frequency, there was a part of me that was always connected and ready to respond if the sound came.
    Finally, since I had been taught about the call and been aware, I knew that I needed to respond when it came, and if I didn’t, then I knew that my life would not be as good as it could be if I ignored or resisted it.  I knew that I had to return to my father, because I was needed.

    By virtue of our baptism, each of us are called to do certain things with our lives.  Even more powerfully, as creatures of the Creator, God has given us certain gifts and callings, which if we follow, will bless us and bring us fulfillment, while also blessing others and bringing fulfillment to the world.  The key, however, is to first, learn how to listen, which is something that is taught.
    Whether taught by the community of faith in worship or in small groups, or whether taught by the Spirit in quiet times of meditation, we have to learn to hear the voice of God.  We recognize and name that the more mature we get and the busier our lives become, that it is vital that we learn how to do this and practice the skill.
    Secondly, we have to tune in.  Most often such learning and hearing comes through taking time to get away from the noise and simply being with and listening for God. It can come through being is service to others, sharing time with Godly people, or in worship.  Everyone tunes in differently, but what is most important is to find out how we best connect with God, then be deliberate in connecting.
    Finally, when we connect, we need to respond.  But, we don’t respond out of obligation.  No, God doesn’t force us to do anything.  Instead, we respond because when we follow God, then our lives are enhanced, and so are the lives of those around us.  We respond, because when we do, we live in that place where God is at work, and all is right with the world.  Oh, it might not be what others believe is “successful,” because it might drive us to live very different lives than those around us, but it is living where God calls us.  To do so brings life, hope, and deep joy.

How are you learning to connect with God?  Are you tuned in?  Are you responding, even if the call seems to be pulling you far outside your comfort zone?  Pray about it.