I just saw a clip on the New York Times website in which Joan Rivers says: “What we [comedians] do isn’t a job. It’s a calling. We make people happy.” It occurs to me that the concept of a “calling” or “vocation” has practically disappeared in public life.
We settle for “education” or “career.” But a calling is not about what you learn or how much you make. It is about how you will use your gifts to shape a good life in the service of others. It is also about the idea of doing something well, not for what you may earn by doing so, but because doing something well is, or should be, a desirable end in itself. In my experience, the concept is no longer stressed even in the Church, where it once was used strictly in religious terms, but with the understanding that one could have a secular calling. But you don’t have to believe in God to have a calling.
I wonder how many of our major universities (including Catholic ones) teach the idea of vocation? Oddly enough, one place where vocation is taken for granted is among professional athletes. Yes, they go for the big bucks (and I don’t blame them), but there is always the demand that “you play the game the right way,” combining craftsmanship, teamwork, and spirit. The great ones play the game for the sake of the game, and they do so with a particular kind of joy. It would be good if that kind of joy was fostered in higher education.
— William F. Gavin is a former speechwriter for President Nixon and is the author of Speechwright.