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edithsteinrocks
Guest
Ditto. I never had any desire to marry. I never had any aversion to it either - just no attraction.
A nun once asked me what my definition of a vocation was. I answered, “Vocation is a pull of the being towards a certain way of life.” I think - and this is just IMHO - that the average person with a sound prayer life, good judgement and honest self-reflection knows on a deep and fundamental level what way of life he/she feels pulled towards - or at least which way of life he/she doesn’t feel attracted to!
I used to think I might have a vocation as a Discalced Carmelite nun, but now I also find myself contemplating the possibility of a vocation as a Third-Order Secular Carmelite. How do I know which is supposed to be my vocation? I don’t. I’m just trying to follow God one day at a time with an open mind and heart. I try not to make any foregone assumptions about what I think God wants me to do and what he actually wants me to do because sometimes we honestly believe we are doing God’s will when in fact we don’t know for certain whether we are (thank you, Thomas Merton!).
Listen to God in your heart, pray, speak to a spiritual director, and above all, be totally honest with yourself (i.e., humility) about your motives for contemplating a vocation.
Trying to do God’s will and answering a call is not something that gets done “down the road” as a result of careful thinking and planning. It’s a divine reality fulfilled every moment, right here, right now, in the present.
