How do we respond to our higher calling?
October 1, 2007
Jolene Hildebrand
Purpose is the reason for which something exists. A higher purpose implies a design which transcends our world, and being called means we are responding to a Designer. “Called to a higher purpose” is Trinity Western University’s motto for this school year. As students, how do we respond to this imperative statement?
I find myself wondering what is my purpose here? Do I go to this school because it fits with my idea of purpose, or am I willing to open myself to the possibility of discovering a new one? When I first came to Trinity, I eagerly looked forward to the challenges and issues that I would encounter. And while my ideas and thoughts have shifted radically, I still find that my sense of purpose has most significantly come from my encounters with people and culture: not with lofty vision statements.
It’s easy to become caught up in ethereal ideas about eternity, and sometimes the issue of purpose becomes so elevated to a realm that is “higher”. Higher is perhaps misleading as it tends to remove our question from this space and time, and polarize our thinking. While focusing on the abstract ideals of calling, I realize that I am forgetting to engage in a world that is current and active, regardless of my participation.
This understanding of higher purpose and calling can lead to a detached view of the world, and focus all our energy on an anticipated world to come. But as we go about our classes and lives, the significance of this world confronts us with every encounter, whether it be with another student or friend, a professor, or an idea. The context of our calling, the reason for which we exist, is here and now. Meditation on eternity can inspire beautiful things, but our focus on eternity must relate to the navigation of our own lives.
Being students, our posture is fragile and susceptible to dominating forces. It’s easy to let something else determine what our purpose should be for us. Not only institutions, but culture is constantly pressuring us to fulfill a specific purpose or calling. If a purpose is the reason for which something exists, then how can anyone know that reason unless they were either the thing or the creator of the thing? So if we are subjects of a “higher designer”, how do we understand a purpose that can really only be revealed to ourselves? And then how do we carry this out in a world that is not “higher”?
Perhaps our “lower” purpose is more significant in the context of our relationships with the real world. Who we interact with on an every day level presents us with a chance to temporarily shift our first person orientation and actively engage with another world of perspectives. This can dramatically shape who we become as we allow ourselves to be open to some very wordly forces. Ultimately, our lower purpose fulfills our higher calling.
It’s not enough to passively allow others to decide our participation for us. The development of our judgement and critical thinking is necessary to engage with the idea of a higher calling. We need these skills to understand our context and where we plan to go ahead with our lives - what process will determine why we are here and who we will become. The most significant factor in this question is how we will bring our higher calling down to engage with the people we are surrounded by in this world.
Now you go...
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