“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” – Frederick Beuchner
What do you do when you find a quote that you really like? Some people commit the quote to memory; others will write it down in an app or on a sticky note; some may even get the quote tattooed on their body. Me? I buy the book. If I find out that the quote is from a book, I sometimes get this insatiable desire to know the context and the author. This habit can get expensive, so I’ve gotten better at using the library and buying second-hand. In this case, however, this one quote led me to purchase multiple books.
This quote, which I have since discovered is popular in certain circles, led me to one Frederick Beuchner book, then another Beuchner book, then another…
Vocation
Frederick Beuchner penned these words in his short, nonfiction book, Wishful Thinking. The sentence falls at the end of a short reflection of the word vocation. The term vocation, as he explains, is derived from the Latin vocare “to call”, and means the work a person is called to by God. So how does a person discover what God is calling them to do? This is the question that most people of faith have asked at one time or another.
What Is God Calling Me to Do?
Frederick Buecher’s short quote is intended to help people answer this question. Here is the quote once again:
“The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.” – Frederick Beuchner
The quote packs a punch because not only is it written in the eloquent and succinct style that Beuchner readers are accustomed to, but it also contains a brilliant framework to help readers identify their calling in less than 20 words.
Writing Ads For a Cigarette Company
Beuchner gives two examples to flesh out this framework. The first is someone who writes ads for a cigarette company. He explains that for some, this type of work might meet the deep gladness aspect of a calling. They might “really get a kick” out of writing cigarette ads; however, most will agree that the world does not need more cigarettes. Therefore, this misses the world’s deep hunger criteria.
Working As a Doctor In a Leper Colony
The second example is a doctor in a leper colony. Everyone would agree that the world needs doctors who are willing to help those suffering from deadly diseases, but what if the doctor is bored and depressed by their work? Buechner says that in this case not only is the doctor presumably discounting their deep gladness, but they may get so depressed that they are probably not helping the patients much either.
Where do your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet?
This is not a “drop the mic” and walk away framework. It requires further explanation and must be filled out to be a helpful model. For instance, the deep gladness aspect of calling should include what a person is passionate about as well as what they are good at. The world’s deep hunger must include the pressing needs of humanity, as well as answering the practical question: “Can I make money doing this?” My preference would be to begin with the narrative framework, seeing your life story (your subplot) as a part of God’s story. If you want to know more about my narrative approach to discerning a vocation, I talk about that in the earlier post, “What Are You Doing Next?”
Still, the quote has remained a favorite of mine because it contains all the necessary elements of seeing life as a calling. What is God calling you to do in this season of life? Where do your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet?
