:: St. Stephen's Musings ::

:: Friday, November 12, 2004 ::

A Pig Gains No Glory From The Attempt To Fly

I've been told, by a couple of different people recently (and on more than one occasion in the past), that I would make a good priest.

Thinking about my vocation is one of the many issues that percolates in my soul on a daily basis. However, despite the endorsements, I have my doubts for reasons very similar to the musings of S.M. Hutchens:

I am convinced, quite contrary to a great deal of pious wisdom on the subject, that the possession of certain gifts, even in abundance, is not necessarily a sign that one will have the opportunity to employ them in this life, or the blessing of God in their attempted use.

This is because I, and many others I know, have certain powers whose use I firmly believe we have been forbidden-- which must apparently remain latent indefinitely, at least in this life. There are other gifts I regard as far smaller and less important I have been forced to exercise, much to my irritation and chagrin, consistently. It would appear, if not from our lives, then those of the martyrs, that from a strictly pragmatic point of view God is a great waster of his best resources.

We don't, however, have access to the Grand Scheme of Things, don't know precisely what we've been made for, don't know what God values most in us, or what we shall become in glory.

We are like Jane Studdock [from C.S. Lewis' "That Hideous Strength"], who wanted to be admired and valued for her intellect, but finally had to come to grips with the fact that those whose valuations she really cared about in the end valued her for other qualities.

In evaluating our own gifts and callings we need to take this consideration into proper account. While lack of aptitude provides adequate reason to forego some ambitions (a pig gains no glory from the attempt to fly), its possession, alas, does not necessarily demand its exercise--although, of course, it might.

:: Karl :: 8:24:00 AM [Link] ::