Daily Prayer, 2 March

Having a vocation or calling is something that used to be a given. When we were growing up, we just sort of understood that each of us would find a job that we could do well, and pursue that as a means to provide for ourselves and our, God-willing, future family. What I’ve found with young people that man our ships and our Marine regiments, however, is a little different. While we, at least I, never expected work to be an end in itself, but merely a means, and certainly didn’t expect my life to be defined by or fulfilled in my work, younger generations look to their work to find meaning and purpose in their lives. As if this weren’t difficult enough—how does one find a meaningful life in a factory job or data entry—no one is willing to tell them what a good life is, or how to find fulfillment regardless of what you do for a paycheck. I believe this is because most of them—like an increasing majority of Americans—haven’t ever been to Church, and they aren’t going to hear it anywhere else these days that they have meaning and purpose simply because they are loved by God. This prayer is one of my attempts to introduce them to the idea, and get those who may have heard it before to think about it more deeply.

True craftsmanship amazes me. I could watch for hours someone who has developed skills that can take years to master. I am always struck by how easily a good craftsman can look at raw materials and see an end product, the bowl in a lump of clay, the figure of David in a block of marble, the house in a pile of uncut lumber. Shows like Forged in Fire—one my sons and I enjoy watching together—display this kind of craftsmanship that can transform a rusted coil of spring steel into a fully functional samurai sword that “will keal.”

To be a craftsman one must have vision, which is the ability to have the end in mind even before you begin. Without vision it’s impossible to make anything. It’s difficult enough to know how to start when you know where you’re going, it’s nearly impossible when you don’t.

Our lives require craftsmanship too, a kind that requires both realism and vision. We have to know realistically where we stand now AND we have to know who and what we want to be before we are ever going to be able to make good, effective decisions for our future. In matters as simple as which book to read next, or bigger choices like where to go for college or to learn a trade, or even whom to marry the best choices we can make are those that craft our lives into the desired shape according to our vision of who we want to be. So don’t go at it blindly. Have a vision for your future and begin purposely crafting a good life.

LET US PRAY

God of all creation, Who brought the universe into existence out of nothing, You crafted each of us as a unique and unrepeatable person according to Your divine purpose. Give us all the vision we need to craft our lives in a purposeful, intentional way so that we can each fulfill our own unique calling. Guide our steps, make our endeavors safe, for You, O God, are all-knowing and all powerful and to You we give thanksgiving and worship always, now and forever and to the ages of ages.

AMEN