Some of the work I do at Marble involves vocational discernment and helping people seek work (and lives in general), that bring out the best in them. It's not easy, and it’s obviously not guaranteed, but to some extent it is the task we are all presented with. 

Of all the Bible verses that speak to this task, that provide comfort and encouragement, I confess that my favorite is not particularly fuzzy or friendly. It's from the Gospel of Thomas, one of the non-canonical books - i.e., like many gospels at the time, one left out of the final version of the Bible. The Gospel of Thomas was discovered in the 1940s, and it is made up of sayings attributed to Jesus, many of which echo things in other familiar gospels. Here is the saying:

"If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you."

There. That pretty much covers it! Yes, it's harsh, but I think the harshness is in service to an imperative truth: That which is in us MUST be honored, offered, trusted. To swallow it will eat away at us from within. And I do not think of this solely in terms of the perfect job. "What is within you" can be a realization… an impulse... a truth... an insight... a way to serve. As a priest friend staying with us this weekend put it this morning, he sees his "vocation" from God as to be... himself. Simply. Truly. Unambiguously. 

Almost as a bookend to this quote, with its imperative, is this poem, with its hints as to how we might go about this tricky business of authenticity. It too is a favorite:

The Way It Is
There’s a thread you follow.
It goes among things that change. 
But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

~ William Stafford

The poet captures the singular mystery here, how we really can't explain that undercurrent that is in us, and how utterly precious and crucial it is.

What is the thread, there all along, that you must grasp, must treasure? Do you have a hint... is it obvious or still hidden? Do you have a prayer to utter about this part of you? For all of us, may we know it, trust it, and, of course, follow it.