Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life Paperback – September 4, 2003

A friend who knows me well, once remarked that my reviews are not so much review as commentaries. True enough—I do not fashion myself as a critic so much as a student of the authors that I read. Too many critics that I have known cannot write which, Kant aside, gives them little to work with as critics other than a haughty disposition. But because one must invariably read beyond one’s own talents as a writer, humility is a much more honest starting point. Such is the case for anyone reading Os Guinness’ book, The Call.Guinness states his purpose in writing with these words:“This book is for all who long to find and fulfill the purpose of their lives.” (4)Interestingly, even before setting out this mission statement, Guinness argues that life’s purposes are summarized in three perspectives: (1) the Eastern answer—forget it and forget yourself; (2) the secular answer—life has no meaning so invent one yourself; and (3) the biblical answer—we are created in the image of God and he calls us to himself. (viii-ix). While Guinness displays an encyclopedic understanding of all three of these perspectives, the center of the onion that he peels in this book is God’s call.Guinness’ encyclopedic understanding is possibly an inherited trait. Guinness recounts the story of one eighteen year-old Jane Lucretia D’Esterre, Guinness’ great-great-grandmother, who distraught over the death of her husband in 1815 in a duel, gave up the thought of suicide through drowning as she stood on a riverbank because she noticed the son of a neighbor plowing a field. “Meticulous, absorbed, skilled, he displayed such as pride in his work that the newly turned furrows looked as finely execute as the paint strokes on an artist’s canvas.” (184) Mind you, this young man plowed with a team of horses that have a mind of their own!While I might attribute this distraction as a divine intervention, Guinness describes the incident as demonstrating how: “calling transforms life so that even the commonplace and menial are invested with the splendor of the ordinary.” (185) Soon after this incident, his eagle-eyed, great-great-grandmother came to faith, suggesting that she also saw God’s in this incident. Much like God drew the Prophet Jeremiah to the work of a potter (Jer 18:1-6), this young woman saw God’s hand in a plowman’s furrows.The onion peeling characteristic of Guinness’ prose arise because he examines aspects of God’s call through narratives of famous people. One example that, as a recovering economist, I will not soon forget begins with story of Arthur Burns, a former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Burns began attending an informal White House prayer group, where he was routinely passed over in leading prayer because he was known to be Jewish. When finally asked to pray, he prayed:“Lord, I pray that you would bring Jews to know Jesus Christ. I pray that you would bring Muslims to know Jesus Christ. Finally, Lord, I pray that you would bring Christians to know Jesus Christ, Amen.” (101)Guinness sees at least three lessons to be learned from this incident:1. “…calling by its very nature reminds us that we are only followers of Christ when in fact we follow Jesus…2. calling reminds us that to be ‘a follower of the Way’ is to see life as a journey, which, while we are still alive on the earth, is an incomplete journey that cannot be finally assessed…3. calling reminds us that, recognizing all the different stages people are at, there are many more who are followers of Jesus and on the Way than we realize.” (105-108)These are, in fact, tough lessons that, in my experience, need to be learned over and over again, and that, reflecting back on Guinness, bear the markings of both patient scholarship and personal travel.As someone working on the third edit of a memoir devoted that task, I found myself spending more time in refreshing my memory of this book than I would spend reading other texts. For me, Guinness’ tying of the call to finishing well was especially meaningful.(227) He makes three points:1. “…calling is the spur that keeps us journeying purposefully…2. calling helps us to finish well because it prevents us from confusing the termination of our occupations with the termination of our vocation…3. calling helps us finish well because it encourages us to leave the entire outcome of our lives to God.” (228-231)Os Guinness’ book, The Call, is a fine read for any Christian, but especially those struggling with the meaning of their own call. Be prepared to be enthralled.

Others can provide a more detailed review of the book. I am going to give you more of a personal testimony about its affect on my life.This was a life changing book for me. At the time I first read it, I was needing a new way of thinking about my life. Reading it caused me to take an inventory of my talents, dreams, skills, knowledge and attitudes. Having done that, I lined those beside my vocation and favorite pastimes. That review. mixed with the revelation that Guinness provides brought myself into focus in a way I had never seen myself.I began to appreciate my work as a outgrowth of who I am rather than as just what I did to make money. I began to see my interests and talents away from work in a similar way. Guinness's ideas gave a kind of legitimacy to what I am and like to do because I was permitted to see it all from the point of view of calling.There are certainly those with special gifts, whether they are writers, musicians, mathemeticians, scientists, or politicians. Because I am not one of those, I never thought of myself as special or unique or particularly important in the affairs of men. Yet, calling is that which brings purpose and direction for life and Guinness helped me see that. Even one with the meager talents and gifts that I have can make a difference in the world when what I have is married to the call that God places on every life, no matter who and where they are.Guinness starts with the premise that "there is no calling without a caller". Being that I am a Christian, I am happy to start with that beginning and already have a relationship with the Caller. But what Guinness adds to this is all that goes with that call. The call legitimizes your gifts and efforts when they are married to his purpose. Here is a tiny example. As a teenager when I was learning to play guitar and sing a bit, I had the dream that many do of playing in a rock back, having the curtain drawn back, a packed house cheering for the show to begin and playing the first notes of the music. That dream eventually came to be, but in a different form. Instead of playing in a rock band for a thousand screaming teenagers, I played in a 20-piece banjo band for a thousand blue haired ladies and gentlemen. It was no less exciting for me and represented the fulfillment of a dream. I could see how God had planted in me a desire to perform and bring pleasure to people at a certain time of life. That happened to me when I was 25 years old. At the age of 61, I am doing it still today. It is one of the ways that God gifted me and called me into his service. I am not a professional and make no money from it. I do it because it is in me to do. That is what calling is. I will always be grateful to Os Guinness and "The Call" for opening this door of purpose and understanding for me.