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.
Continue reading “The Mystery of the Caller: Fear, Awe, and Beauty in the Islamic Mary’s Vocation”
