T. Webb wrote this in a comment on the article:
Dr. Veith,
How I wish, oh how I wish that what you are writing were true. I hear of people who have a “dream” of doing something or other people who get up every morning excited to do whatever it is that they do, and I have no context for such things, I just can’t understand it. I have a paper pushing dead-end job, and I have nothing to look forward to. I have no dreams or aspirations. I feel like the living dead.
I replied:
T. Webb, the doctrine is true. But vocation means far more than “job.” What you describe is “bearing the cross.” Vocations do not come without trial and suffering. But do you have a family (even if you are single do you have your parents, siblings, cousins, etc.)? Do you have a church? You are part of a culture. As the article says, we have multiple vocations in the family, the church, and the culture. And your deadend job is a calling (one many people would want in this age of unemployment). Sometimes learning about vocation can change how you look at a job. Does it bring neighbors into your life to love and serve? Do you see how God is working through what you do to bless others? (What good or service does your job provide? Can you see that as a blessing from God?) If you hate your work so much, though, perhaps that discontent is part of God calling you to some other line of work. But consider the other points I’ve just raised first. (T.Webb, this is so important and your comment so plaintive that I want to put this before the other readers of this blog in our discussions on Monday.)
What counsel could you give T. Webb?
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