On and Off the Shelf: A Calling to Share

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Sun, 14 Apr 2013 02:16:29 +0000
Uncategorized, books, calling, FLV, Mike Van Asten, reading, vocation

All my books on vocation* would neatly fill one shelf – if they just felt called to stay put! This small collection has almost all come my way via the reading groups sponsored by the office of faith learning and vocation (FLV) on campus and, as these volumes come, they go. Since these works on calling get me thinking, and talking about what I’ve read – and since I have a mentoring bent that seems to draw the questing, reinventing, or plain stuck soul – my shelf has become a little circulating library. I like that.

These books all came to me as gifts of the college, so I am happy to I pass them out freely: It’s a gesture of thanks, actually, to the Lilly Foundation, whose very generous grant has funded these programs in the past and helped St. Norbert become a leader in the theological exploration of vocation. For myself, I’ve been able to make new friends among the faculty and staff through all-college book reads, a year-long study of vocation, and our current spring vocation reading group.

I’m not the only one sharing books: trustee Mike Van Asten ’75 is a regular too, and on occasion he has bought a case of a particular book he’s discovered through FLV, to share with his employees. One way or another, the word is getting out.

Next Tuesday me, Mike and half-a-dozen other SNC folk meet for our final session on this spring’s three books. We’ve been studying memoirs: “three distinct voices on the theme ‘When Callings Challenge.’ ” We can count on a fruitful and enjoyable late-afternoon discussion, and we’ll end this meeting with a shared dinner. Here’s this semester’s list. I sometimes think I’d like to run these in the magazine and find a way for our readers to engage, too.

“Leaving Church: A Memoir of Faith,” by Barbara Brown Taylor

“In Good Company,” by James Martin

“Called to Question: A Spiritual Memoir,” by Joan Chittister

*I pinched this statement from FLV’s web pages: “As Frederick Buechner famously described, vocation is ‘the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.’ Our program supports students, faculty and staff in the search for the intersection Buechner describes. Through vibrant peer ministry in the res halls, student ministry formation groups, programs targeted to students at specific moments in their college journey, rich faculty/staff development opportunities, and online connection to valuable resources, we seek to support you as you explore questions of calling.”