This blog is posted to answer questions from a comment by Arch on Part 2. Since Blogger would not allow me to post a comment after his, and I could not work out why!
His Question:
Is calling an internal or an external thing? Meaning do you regard it as something God asks of you, or is it something you choose to do? I guess the two are not exclusive, but I'm wondering if you have a different name for something God asks of you and something you feel compelled to do?
My answer:
Hi Arch,
The calling I feel in my heart, and 'know' in my soul, is a very internal reaction. It is based in calmness, peace and healing (though, having ego, I might not always react that way). All of us were created through the energy of love and curiosity. In other words, we appear to mirror our creator. Given the right circumstances, humans are capable of incredible Love; and when we are of a balanced mind and emotions, we become incredibly creative .. in a million different ways.
Created from love, we express love (give out the vibes/energy) when we are happy and satisfied, and the opposite when we are not. When we 'live' our calling, we share that love with the world in many forms, some more obvious than others. If you are Christian you might call it God's love; the Wiccans see the Goddess' love .. and then there is the 'wisdom' of Buddha or Confuscius, each of whom taught love in different ways. Here, then, is a very stong central theme .. Love.
A calling is something that satisfies our internal need to give love through external action. A person called to serve God might do so by praying all their waking hours. The act of praying answers an internal need, the external action might answer someone else's need to believe that people are capable of sacrificing their lives in prayer for others, or some other way, although they might also think them completely nuts. The Love the praying person is expressing through their prayers may change the foundations of the world, or a grieving person's heart .. and we might never know it, and nor might the person praying .. but change happens anyway. Remember the comment about the butterfly.
We were created with the gift of free will. We have the right to say no, and to control our own destinys, so I do not believe that God has asked me to do anything except be myself. I try to serve humanity in the capacity I was created to achieve. I know this from the peace it gives my soul. It is my choice to listen to the 'still quiet voice' that sometimes says 'write this' and sometimes says 'Ama, sit on your hands' (in other words, reconsider that paragraph or thought LOL). I follow because I want to, I am never 'compelled'.
In my opinion, a person may define God as anything they like, as long as they are at peace with their decision. My son says he is a Jedi .. that's fine with me.
May the force be with you,
Love & Peace
Ama
If a calling comes from within, and not from a more 'perfect' source such as a god, is it possible then for people to get it wrong? For someone to choose a path thinking it's their calling, only to find later they are mistaken. Or worse, maybe never find out they were mistaken?
ReplyDeleteSadly blogger won't allow you to post comments as replies. You can only comment as another commentor. At least, that's been my experience.
Don't know a whole heap of Gandhi quotes, but the one I have pinned on my wall is "I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again".