Week Five: Day 4 – Vocation

I think my sense of – my own personal sense of “mission” (I guess you can call it) in the world, something that might be a couple of steps above like a vocation, is this sense that what God wants out of me personally – perhaps as an expression of gratitude for all God’s given me – is to simply be present in a particular way, to cultivate that, to practice that, to foster an awareness of God’s presence and God’s love both within certain aspects of creation, within my own heart, within other people. I think being in the world in that way is really what God wants out of me; that’s like the primary thing. Now experience has taught me that in some ways that “being,” you know that thing that I feel called to do, is really the generative thing that I feel like is the thing that I have to offer, the thing that I have to give, the blessing that I can pass on. Something that has been given to me that I can then share. Being a monk as a vocation seems to be one of the best ways that I have found to cultivate that, in community. To live a life that helps me aspire to, keep in mind the intention of, and to practice that higher mission of being present and giving that back to the world.

– Br. Nicholas Bartoli

Question to Journal
How would you describe your unique ‘vocation’ in the world?