I recently came across a book on Christian academic vocations written by A.G. Sertillanges, a French Catholic university professor. He says:
A vocation is not fulfilled by
vague reading and a few scattered writings. It requires penetration and
continuity and methodical effort, so as to attain a fulness of development
which will correspond to the call of the Spirit, and to the resources that it
has pleased Him to bestow upon us.[1]
He emphasizes that our vocations are God’s gifts to the
church, so we cannot neglect them “without impoverishing the group and without
depriving the eternal Christ of a part of His Kingdom.” He adds:
If you are designated as a
light bearer, do not go and hide under a bushel the gleam or the flame expected
from you in the house of the Father of all.[2]
Our Creator has entrusted us with the light of truth, which the world needs more urgently than any other. “Set your minds, then, on endorsing by your conduct the fact that God has called and chosen you” (2 Pet. 1:10a, Phillips).
Any God-given vocation deserves our steadfast commitment, in season and out. This is certainly true of Christian writing, Here's a suggestion: During your next meditation time, reflect on the way you write. Think not only about the amount of time you give to the task, but the way you invest that time. As Sertillanges reminds us, a vocation "requires penetration and continuity and methodical effort."
If you know God has called you to write, begin writing that way. Today.
Joe Allison writes both fiction and nonfiction, and has been a member of the Indiana chapter of American Christian Fiction Writers since 2010. He lives in Anderson, IN, with his wife Maribeth.
[1]
A.G. Sertillanges, The Intellectual Life, rev. ed. (Washington, DC:
Catholic University Press, 1998), 3.
[2]
Sertillanges, 5.
