A challenge I placed before our graduating Year 12 students was to ponder the questions, “What do you feel called to do? What noble calling will you listen to?”
I’ve used the word noble deliberately, because there are all sorts of callings in life, but not all of them are ethically or morally good, or noble. It’s good to have a purpose in life, but it needs to be a noble purpose.
I’ve been thinking about this word “noble” for some time. Those of you familiar with the disturbing TV series Breaking Bad will know that not all vocations are noble or ethical.
I still remember when I spent six months in Germany and became good friends with an American student, who was also there to further his German. He was quite a radical thinker, so when he asked me what I was going to do in my life, I somewhat nervously told him that I was hoping to become a priest. I was nervous, because my impression of him was that he was a radical leftie, who would not approve of something like the priesthood. To my great surprise he said, “It’s a noble calling.”
If you can discover your noble calling, then you will find great joy in life. You will feel fulfilled. Search for what gives you life: it’s a journey worth undertaking!
The Reverend Dr Theo McCall
School Chaplain
