The Semantics of "Call" and Its Effects on Being

Dear readers,

I apologize for my lack of attention to this blog over the past couple of weeks. I hit a busy time of my semester, got a new game, and was trying to keep all my research together, so blogging has been undone for the last two weeks. I do hope this new article is entertaining, thought-provoking, and everything the blissful hearts of my readers can desire. I also hope it fulfills a need for intellectual discussion and a good introduction on a topic which is important.

It's linguistics time. Today the word on the operating table is the word "call." To call can have many uses, such as calling out to someone in a crowd, calling someone on a telephone, or being called by God. All of these uses have a similar meaning in that one is expressing a desire to come closer to someone or to get their attention. However, for this particular piece, the final expression of call and its use in religious circles is what I want to focus our attention on today.

Can one say that there is destiny? In particular, is it true that God has a specific call for each individual person which will make them most happy? Let us answer in the positive for just a second, before we make a real conclusion. For each person to have a specific call, and everyone to answer that call because they want to be most happy, means that God's work is done on the whole because everyone fulfills their part. This statement in itself sounds nice, because being becomes ordered and makes sense. It is pleasant and powerful to think that God has a special plan just for me. This is a powerful emotion which people experience that cannot be matched. For most, it is a sign of intimacy with God when they find that perfect plan for their lives and meet their desire to serve God's will.

However, and this may have been somewhat predictable, we have a massive problem here. If God is limited by human choice, then by definition He is not God. This is taking the Greek definition of God which is often used in religious circles (mainly Catholic and Evangelical) that God is infinite. If God is infinite, then He cannot be bound by human choice, meaning there cannot be a destiny because this would make God's work bound by our own choices.

Secondly, the "call" is only recognized as authentic when it is recognized by someone else. Keep in mind, spiritual direction is wonderful. Having lots of friends to talk to about theological/philosophical stuff is good because we all learn more about being and the possibilities of God's Being. However, this "call" always wants to lead a person to orthodoxy of some sort by people who influence the institution. If to be called, one must be recognized by someone else, then how does being change if it needs to change? This is where the tension between "the institutional and the charismatic church comes into play." (Rahner, The Spirit in the Church) There is an extensive discussion on how the Holy Spirit is present in the institutional Church at all times, but not always in the actions of every person, and if not careful either the individual or the institution can "squelch the Spirit" in an individual (Rahner, Ibid). The charismatic element keeps the institutional church in check because sensitivities are given to certain people who notice problems in the institution itself. However, by an insistence on "being called", the status quo remains relatively the same, because the people in control of the institution can squelch the call for change. Ideally, members of the institutional church are supposed to help one find God's voice and let the Spirit work as it will (Same source). Whether this actually happens is a discussion possibly for the work of others, or another post.

The word 'call' used in a destiny sense for God's call for one's life is also dangerous because it challenges our relationship with an infinite God, because it calls into question whether He fully loves humanity. If we take the sense of finding God's call in one's life as destiny, that there is one specific thing we're supposed to find in each individual life, then is God really giving humanity a free choice to participate in a relationship. To say that you have a choice, but you won't be most happy if you make the wrong choice, is to say that God is manipulating humanity. But this is not what we see in being. In being, we see people who make choices, and some make them happy, while some do not. You can be unhappy because of a choice you made in life. However, to be really happy is not to find the one specific vocational thing one is supposed to do with their life. To be really happy is to see the grace of God in all people you meet, even if they are not like you and have no "call" to become like you (either in faith or personality). This is to see people as the individual gifts that God made them, and not to desire to make their gifts your own, but to appreciate what is really there. If a call is destiny, the people who proclaim a call have a very specific thing in mind when they talk about the call, so in the end, the word call tends to be used to call people to a being similar to their own. In communication, this is an I-I theory, namely that in communication the presenter is trying to make the audience become the speaker, and not be individual audience members.

Finally, the word "call" favors a supernatural destiny just by the use of the word. To be married or single, sounds like ordinary being, nothing terribly special. But to say one has a call to religious life in any way, shape, or form, seems to give someone a supernatural being, that a person is being called to a special place and a special vocation. Whether one likes it or not, or one intends to or not, this is what happens when one uses the word call to make a drive for destiny because people see something out of the ordinary. When one looks at the dating world, and struggles to understand why people can do the abusive things they can to each other, (and believe me there are a lot of awful things people can do to each other, especially in relationships.) then one of course will see a religious vocation as destiny because it appears to be simpler and less muddled then trying to navigate the dating world and enter into marriage. Phenomenologically speaking as well, marriage just appears to be two people getting together because of an attraction. (What's actually in an attraction remains quite a mystery which has many layers, and needs its own separate treatment.) Religious vocation appears to be something more, because one is not marrying a person and one is not simply living in being (the single vocation). However, this is the impression people in institutional church settings want one to have. Ideally, one would think that they want people who really want to be a part of the church without the need for a supernatural call, an ordination by God if you will. But, this is not always what we see, and the main time when we see it as different from this ideal is when people use the word call.

The Gospel calls all people to one thing, to love others as Jesus Christ did on earth. The greatest challenge, and why this comes up in so many settings, is that no one really knows the best way to follow this example. Even this post is simply an idea and a critique of another in my own exploration. But I cannot say this is the best answer, because knowledge always grows with time, exploration, conversation, and care. (which is why I love comments as much as I do.) However, I can say this, people are definitely being hurt by the idea of destiny in life, and it is giving people an unhealthy image of the person of God. The question now is, "what do we do to respond?" And the answer to this question, is as infinite as the ways in which we need to love. The answer is we need to do a little bit of everything to help people find their talents and gifts which they can give to others in the service of love. When we are willing to do a little bit of everything, with guidance and discernment, then love can be shown and radiate, without the need for a God's call, which in turn, helps people to respect who God really is...