Month: September 2025

The Mystery of the Caller: Fear, Awe, and Beauty in the Islamic Mary’s Vocation

Students often perceive calling as a clear, linear process, expecting a definitive moment of clarity. However, doubt is intrinsic to vocation, as revealed in Maryam’s narrative from the Qur’an, emphasizing the importance of understanding the “caller.” Accepting a calling often involves navigating through fear and uncertainty, ultimately leading to spiritual strength and clarity.

In my teaching and mentoring, I am always struck by how students think about calling as a linear process. They often expect their callings to emerge in a “eureka” moment, when everything comes into sharp focus and their futures becomes apparent. Yet through my work, I have come to see doubt as integral to vocation, as our callings can also lead to mystery, awe, and even fear. As many of us work through these feelings, we come out on the other side stronger in our faith, with a more certain sense of what we are called to do. 

In my new book The Islamic Mary: Maryam Through the Centuries, I learned that the Islamic tradition was drawn to the moment of Maryam’s (Mary’s) call specifically when she is told that she will have ‘Isa (Jesus). As the Qur’an narrates, the Angel Jibril (Gabriel) approaches Maryam to share the news of her miracle, but at first she does not recognize the “caller” and is, in fact, afraid and taken aback (19:17-21). Her fear of the unknown illustrates a dynamic of calling that David Cunningham explores in his essay, “‘Who’s There?’:  The Dramatic Role of the ‘Caller’ in Vocational Discernment.” As Cunningham explains, studies in vocation often focus on somebody being “called” without necessarily focusing on the identity of the caller, its source, or means of calling. In particular, he emphasizes the “mystery” inherent in vocation and how finding one’s vocation often involves uncertainty and ambiguity. 

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Article of Note: The Vocational Potential of General Studies Degrees

Scott Carlson’s newsletter highlights Rachel Elliot Rigolino’s insights on general-studies programs, emphasizing their value for nontraditional students returning to education. Rigolino argues that these programs foster vocational exploration, despite misconceptions of their lack of rigor. Her students’ experiences illustrate the potential for meaningful academic growth and professional development through such degrees.

Readers unfamiliar with Scott Carlson’s newsletter “The Edge” (which appears on the The Chronicle of Higher Education) might find a post from this past summer inspiring and relevant to the work we do within vocation studies. In this post, he celebrates one of the winners of its “Edge Essay Contest”—Rachel Elliot Rigolino and her submission, “What My General-Studies Students Taught Me About Higher Ed’s Future.” As a lecturer of English and coordinator of the Supplemental Writing Workshop at the State University of New York at New Paltz, Rigolino uses her experience in these areas to argue “for the power of an unusual approach,” as Carlson writes, “in service to a nontraditional student population.”

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Understanding Alienation: Marx, Vocation, and Student Formation

The text explores the tension between students’ job aspirations and their pursuit of meaningful work. It highlights Marx’s critique of capitalism, emphasizing alienation and the lack of fulfillment it brings to workers. The author argues for education that prioritizes personal growth and purpose, encouraging students to seek fulfillment beyond traditional employment.

A series on how the great sociological thinkers from the past can help us understand the struggle of today’s students as they explore and discern their vocations.

Students often ask us: What kind of job will I be able to get with my degree? This occupational focus can be frustrating for those of us in higher education who want students to think more holistically about their vocations and explore questions like: How can I contribute to the common good? What do I want to accomplish with my life? What would be a fulfilling way to spend my time?

As a sociologist, I am inclined to reframe these questions through the lens of my discipline. When students struggle with the job question, I can’t help but think about the social and economic forces that control the kinds of positions that are available to them. Who or what creates the job market they will encounter? What forces shape how they will spend their time and energy? What structures the possible goals they will devote their lives to accomplishing?

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Hope through Connection V: Becoming Ourselves in Community

In a gateway course at St. Norbert College, community-building enhances students’ vocational exploration. Through personal conferences, peer mentorship, and intentional interactions, this gateway course fosters trust and support. This class helps students discover their voices and lays a foundation for meaningful relationships and learning, emphasizing that vocation flourishes within community contexts.

Imagine starting your semester by asking your students, “Who inspired you as a child or teen? What lessons did they offer?” Or ending the course with this question: “What kind of world would you like to leave behind for future generations? How can you start to shape that world now?” Drawn from NetVUE’s Conversation Cards, these questions have set the stage for community-building in our gateway course for the English major at St. Nobert College. It may feel like such conversations are off topic, even a tangent. But we—Deirdre, the course’s professor, and Caroline, her student—give you permission to do this. We assure you that it will pay off.

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Vocation as Process: Learning through Creative Failure

Creative writing pedagogy can enrich vocational teaching by emphasizing process over product, embracing failure, and prioritizing revision. This approach fosters courage, openness, and trust in students while encouraging them to take risks and learn from their mistakes. Ultimately, self-trust and experimentation lead to personal and professional growth.

A series of posts on what creative writing pedagogy has to offer vocational teaching in any discipline.

In On Being Stuck: Tapping Into the Creative Power of Writer’s Block, Laraine Herring writes, “We all have methods for getting in our own way. It’s human nature.” Her point is true for everyone—not just for creative writers. It’s especially true for students on their vocational journeys. As I mentioned in the first post in my series, the skills required for vocational discernment—courage, openness, and trust—are the same skills required for making art. And the same barriers to making good art—fear, self-doubt, and self-criticism—can also block or challenge students as they explore and discern their vocations. That’s why I think creative writing pedagogy offers helpful frameworks for all instructors when it comes to teaching vocation.

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