As we celebrate National Vocation Awareness Week it is a good time for us to get back to the basics. One of the basic questions we ask ourselves is “What does God want me to do?” We can get wrapped up into thinking that there is some great hush-hush master plan out there, some clandestine mission. And, we worry that we do not know what that is. Yet, we can be assured that God is not holding us to some unknown standard. God does not operate that way.
Every day thousands of choices present themselves to us. We can do this or we can do that. In an ever-growing barrage of options, things become convoluted and confusing. How can we be sure we are doing God’s Will? How are we to figure out what is pleasing to God? When we get lost in the complexities of finding our way and if discerning our future is causing us angst, perhaps we need to go back to the basics.
We can look to the prophet Micah for these basics. He ministered during a bleak and confusing time in Israel’s history. The people were lost and afraid. The Assyrian empire had just arisen against them and had destroyed the northern tribes of Israel. This left the people of God with a very uncertain future. What were they to do? How were they to be?
Against this background, Micah tells the people to go back to the basics. He speaks a concise and powerful message. Through Micah, God reveals exactly what God wants from the people: to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with Him. This is what God still wants from us today.
No matter who you are or how you are living your particular vocation…if you are young or old, married or single, religious or a priest “you have been told, what is good, and what the LORD requires of you: Only to do justice and to love goodness, and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). There you have it. Those are the basics. We are to do justice, love kindness and walk humble with our God.
Do Justice. It’s not enough to be sad about injustice. God wants people who care enough to do justice, in other words to act honorably. Doing what you are supposed to be doing in the way you are supposed to be doing it with and for others.
Love Goodness. Goodness is not a quality we can manufacture on our own. Goodness comes from God. We need to love what God loves and let the Holy Spirit move in us so that we can be blessed with the fruit of goodness.
Walk Humbly. Be not proud or self-reliant. Continually seek strength from God and do all for God’s glory. Trust the Lord and acknowledge him as the source of your life as you walk through each day.
So, when life gets so complex that we feel we have lost our way and are no longer being who and how God dreams us to be, we need to go back to the basics. God’s desires for us are not an arcane mystery nor hidden secret, but it is simple and basic. We are people who should do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly before God. By focusing on these basics, we find what will enable us to be all God dreams us to be.
If you or someone you know wants more information about vocations, please email vocations@duluthosb.org or visit duluthbenedictines.org/vocations
