What Am I Called to Do?

They say the Lord works in mysterious ways and that things happen according to His plan. How interesting then, that I'd receive an email today that deals with God's calling when I've been thinking and praying about just that in the past few weeks. I have been meeting with an organization that will help me find work that fits my needs and interests while looking online for other options, as well as researching master's programs, as I've decided I definitely want a Master's Degree. There are so many options--music composition, music performance, music history, music librarian, fine arts, liberal arts, ministry (not same as pastoral/seminary), creative writing, etc. As for jobs, I can work at Barnes and Noble or Target, i.e. somewhere 'generic' that gives me a paycheck and perhaps benefits so I can pay off school, then get my master's and find a job that actually goes with the degree. OR I can work for a church, school, theater, etc. in a position directly connected to my degree now. OR, one of 150,000 other options that are out there.
I am frustrated that our Career Services people could do no more for me than tell me to post a resume online and wish me luck. Aren't we paying $20,000 a year to get a degree and actually leave school with a job lined up? I officially get my degree this month and I'm totally lost!! I'm trying to be positive though, and I'm remembering that in any field, a person with a degree has better odds than one without, that I'm intelligent and personable and should have no problem getting hired somewhere, and that all of these choices mean that my options are many and the sky's the limit. In doing this, I have to fight the urge to freak out at all the options. I love options and freedom, but I'm the kind of guy who'd rather chose a DVD to watch or go to whatever is showing at the one theater in town than choose from the 14 options at the multiplex--just narrow it down PLEASE!
I don't want you to get reader's headache (OK, I just made the term up) so I'll end shortly even though I could rant on. The following comes from my aforementioned email from a Catholic newsletter thingy called ShoreLines and I JUST read it now and immediately thought to blog.

Some think that because God knows whom to call and when to call, there is nothing more for us to do than to wait. But they forget that the sovereign divine initiative does not dispense man from the task of responding to it. In fact, many who are called arrive at the awareness of the divine choice by means of favorable circumstances, determined also by the life of the Christian community.

In many young people, disoriented by consumerism and by the crisis in ideals, the search for an authentic life-style can mature, if it is sustained by a coherent and joyful witness of the Christian community in its openness to listen to the cry of a world thirsting for truth and justice. In this case, it is easy for the heart to open itself to welcome with generosity the gift of a consecrated vocation.

Pope John Paul II, 1996

Also:

Unfortunately the notion of vocation has also suffered much distortion over the last thirty years, and many young people today never even think to question what God may be asking of them in life. But it is one of the most serious questions we face. lf God made me, he knows what he made me for. It is true that he made me to be happy, but who really knows better what will make me happy in the long run - he or I? It isn’t difficult to lose track of the elementary truth of our lives: where we come from, where we are going, and how to get there.

It’s important for young people to consider this question objectively, prayerfully, and generously. Is God calling me to be a priest, a religious, a married person, a consecrated lay person? This isn’t something to be taken for granted. A common response to this question is: I just want to be normal, to do what most people do. But people aren’t mass-produced like automobiles or computers. God made me personally, loves me personally, and created me for a purpose. He didn’t make me to just be normal or one of the crowd.

In all my anxiety, I read this and felt a sense of calm. God made me. He knows why He made me. I do not possess the power to mess up God's plan, therefore His will shall be done regardless of what decisions I make. My vocation is a lifelong calling that goes beyond whom I work for and what classes I take. I am His always and I have the gifts He's blessed me with wherever I go. I hope that you reading this find calm and reassurance as well. After all, I intend all of my writing to be as much for you as it is for me.

God bless,
Stephen

Songs of the Day: "Million Pieces" by Newsboys, "Hallelujah" by Jeff Buckley, "Gold Dust" by Tori Amos...as she says, "We are gold dust in our hands..."