You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful (How to Discover and Fulfill the Callings That Unfold Throughout Your Life) by Karen Swallow Prior. Brazo Press. 146 pages. 2025
*** ½ 

This well written book grew out of a talk the author gave in 2021 at an event hosted by the Rabbit Room. The author tells us that she is not going to tell us what our calling is, but hopes that the book will help show us how to discover and fulfill the various callings that unfold throughout our lives.

She tells us that the first calling of every human being is to bear witness to the God who created the world and that we are all called to this work. Work itself is a good that is part of God’s original design and therefore contributes to human flourishing. She writes that while work and calling do overlap at times, they are not the same.

In this book, the author addresses a number of topics, such as work, vocation, calling, passion, desires, hobby, job, limitations, discerning our calling, truth, goodness and beauty. She quotes frequently from other writers, especially poets.

She writes that finding work that aligns with our passions, desires, and gifts is, of course, ideal, but that doesn’t always happen, and that is okay. She tells us that merely having a desire or a passion inside us does not necessarily mean we will receive a call from outside that will fulfill that passion. In fact, being paid to do what you love has, for most of human history, been the exception, not the rule.

She tells us that there is no magical formula or perfect job just waiting for us. Such an understanding encourages us to pursue different interests, develop different skills, and accumulate a range of experiences – and see them all as an ongoing part of pursuing our calling, knowing that God will use it all.

The author tells us that a vocation can be fulfilled in a paid or unpaid position. It might begin as a hobby and then become a job or career – or it might be something we devote our whole lives to and never get paid to do or gain public recognition for doing.

Work is part of what it means to be human and to imitate our Creator through the creative nature of work—can fall into various categories: hobby, job, career, and vocation. A call requires both a caller and the called. It is not our job to be called. Rather, it is our job to answer the call.

The author tells us that passion is inside and a calling comes from outside. They don’t always entirely coincide, but sometimes they do.

She writes that a view of calling that puts “spiritual” work above other kinds of roles distorts our understanding of both ministry and work. Rather, every Christian is called to “full-time ministry,”

A key point is that vocation is not about being able to fulfill our desires, pursue our passions, or follow our bliss. Vocation is about being called by others to serve. Vocation includes work, but it is more than just a career, job, or source of income. Vocation is one way you fulfill your purpose, the role (or roles) for which you were created.

The author writes that if you pursue truth, goodness, and beauty in all your work, all your play, all your ways, and all your days, you will find your calling.

I found this to be a helpful book about work, vocation and calling.