Asking the Right Questions about Vocation

Last updated on: May 23, 2013 at 9:33 am by Dr. Steven Garber

Asking the Right Questions about Vocation 2013-05-23T09:33:36-04:00 Dr. Steven Garber

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

vocation, meaning, and ethics.

I had one more conversation with someone today about the vision and hope bound up with the word “vocation.”

Is life about anything?

Does life mean anything?

Is getting up in the morning really for anything?

What do we do with the days of our lives?

Why do we choose to do what we do?

Everyday someone somewhere wants to talk about this. Today it was a professor in Minnesota, and we had arranged to talk in the afternoon. We spent a good hour, and both of us were surprised by the richness of the conversation. He has been thoughtful about it, I have thought about it, and together we learned.

I told him about a trip I am making in a couple weeks to Paris, where I have been asked to speak to a group representing a global corporation. They make stuff we all know, in fact that we all love. But they are asking deeper, more serious questions about the very nature of business, and what it means for human beings to flourish, and for economies and cultures to flourish.

They have asked me to speak about vocation and meaning in a globalizing political economy. I must confess that I gulped when the question was first posed, knowing that it was weighty, and that my answer could not be cheap.

So I am thinking about that these days. There are three words they have asked me to reflect upon: vocation, meaning, and ethics– and their dynamic relationship in the context of globalization, knowledge and business.

Perhaps at a deeper level, they were asking a more profound question:

What is the meaning of the “bottom line?”

Is there just one? What if we believed that good business requires a more complex bottom line?

And that leads to all sorts of other questions:

If there is a more complexity to a true “bottom line,” what does success look like?

How do we know if we have achieved it?

What is our responsibility for others in this?

Have we succeeded if others haven’t?

What does opportunity mean, and what is our responsibility for others?

And do we have any responsibility for the earth?

Can we do business in an honest way without an honest concern for the world which is ours?

At the end of the day, I never get far from the question that Wendell Berry posed as I brought a couple of business executives to talk with him on his Kentucky farm about this very idea, the relation of vocation to meaning to ethics, set as it must be within these complex questions. After hours of conversation, he said to us, “If you want to make money for a year, you will ask certain questions. But if you want to make money for a hundred years, you will have to ask different questions.”

Can we learn to ask the right questions? I suppose that is my assignment in Paris.

This article was originally posted at The Washington Institute’s “Commons” Blog

Image by Elyce Feliz. Used with permission. Sourced via Flickr.

Previous Post

May 16, 2013

The Secret to Better Work and Life Is Not Rocket Science

Next Post

May 29, 2013 What “The Office” Taught Us about the Workplace

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category arts and entertainment audio/video bible / theology business church college community culture education faith family government/politics leadership media medicine podcast science & tech social sector tech Uncategorized work and calling

Select a Month November 2025 May 2025 October 2024 September 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 October 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 August 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 July 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 July 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 November 2016 September 2016 August 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who suggested throwing Moses into the Nile as a baby?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Pharaoh's daughter Miriam Pharaoh A Hebrew midwife