What Call Do You Hear?

There is a song by Dan Fogelberg called “The Leader of the Band.” One of the verses goes like this:

My brothers’ lives were Different

For they heard another call

One went to Chicago

And the other to St. Paul

And I’m in Colorado

When I’m not in some hotel

Living out this life I’ve chose

And come to know so well.

Do you hear another call? As you respond to your call, bear in mind that there are at least two types of calls.

The Higher Call

Think about it. This is the call that all of us hear. It is the call towards greatness in caring for each other by increasing our own worth each and every day. It is the call to build up and not tear down. It is the call to lay our own lives down for others if need be. More than that, it is to be in the state of joyful production, much more than in equally joyful consumption. Is the Higher Call clear in your life?

The Manifest Call

Each of us expresses the Higher Call differently. In different life stages. Depending on where we were born, our ethnicity, culture and all the different facets of everyday life. Too many mistake the Manifest Call for the Higher Call. The Manifest Call is largely expressed in the vocations we choose. Those vocations can and do change over the course of our lives. You might be a politician, in the finance industry, real estate, a farmer or in the merchant marine. Those vocations do not define who you are. The amount of riches you possess does not define who you are either. What does define you is your continued pursuit and expression of the Higher Call in your daily life as you work within your chosen vocation. Reflect. Is that what you are doing daily? How happy are you each and every day? That is a good indicator that you are following the Higher Call of your life.

Flexibility in Expression

When we are centered on our Higher Call, there is great freedom in both choosing and changing our vocations. We have just had our Polling Day here in Singapore yesterday, 10 Jul 2020. The incumbents still won, but not by the vast majority they had perhaps hoped for. My countrymen clamour for a variety of voices, checks and balances within the body politic. That is perfectly fine. Just remember the Higher Call each of us should be moving up to.

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