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"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild
and precious life?" Mary Oliver |
My dear friend gave me a Guidepost Devotional for
Christmas. This year’s theme is 'Giving Thanks'. 52 writers are involved in
writing 52 daily devotions to lead their readers through another year of faith. For the
most part, the writers have their devotionals sprinkled throughout the
book. But on a few occasions they have
one individual, writing throughout the entire week. Now why would it surprise me that I come
across an entire week of devotions written by, Scott Walker, a Pastor of thirty-some years, seeking to follow his passion?
I would prefer to gently tear the 7 pages of devotionals
out, scan them and send them to you, but alas, I’ve decided to summarize them instead.
Scott Walker shares an internal career struggle with his readers. Should he continue to finish out his life-long commitment
in the ministry all the way into retirement, or instead should he listen to a voice beckoning him towards what
he calls a’ far-fetched dream’ that he and his wife had wistfully shared. One
of his daily devotionals ends with this prayer, “Father, help me to listen to my life
and pay attention.”
As Walker works through his monumental decision, he writes
of stumbling across the advice of one of his favorite authors and minister.
Frederick Buechner. “Don’t be compelled to do what you should do, ought to do,
must do, have to do, don’t want to do". Buechner says, "
Rather, get in touch with your great gladness and be free to go do it. ….The
place God calls you to be is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s
great hunger meet.”
“This last short sentence," writes Walker,"grasped me and set
me free. At age fifty-seven, I knew that
my deep gladness was to work with young adults....and help these precious lives discover
their sense of purpose and vocational dreams."
As you might guess, discovering your passion is one thing…. walking
away from a calling in the ministry because of it, is quite another. Walker continued to be in turmoil about his
decision, and his weeks’ worth of devotions walks the reader through a whirl
wind of the writer’s emotions. He
recalls the wonderful memories that emerge while
perparing for and preaching his final sermon at a church he had loved and served for 15 years. He shares his doubts and his prayers and God’s
word that led him through the tunnel he must walk. He writes of challenges that lay in front of
him as he pursues his dream and his passion, with little money, and no job.
Walker recalls once reading the book, What Color is Your Parachute. Its author, Richard Bolles words suddenly had new meaning,
“Take a good look at yourself, define what brings you great gladness, and write
your own proposal and job description.
Then go find someone who needs your skills and believes in your dream.”
And this is exactly was Robert Walker did as he penned out his vision of his dream and wrote a
proposal to two different Universities, requesting to make his passion become a
reality. One University expressed
interest, but said Walker would first need to get the funds to start it.
“The day after I resigned as pastor, Walker writes, I woke
up early in a cold panic. My next task
was to raise funds to start an ‘Institute of Life Purpose’. As I squirmed and pondered my dilemma, the
phone rang. “ It was an unexpected call from
a friend who had not yet heard about his resignation. He met with his friend
and told his story and shared his dream.
His friend’s response, “That sounds like a worthy cause and a wonderful
idea. I would like to help you do this.”
Walker
was blown away! “I had nothing to do with the phone ringing that morning. I never would have initiated the
conversation. But God had a way of
saying, “You can do this! I am working with you.”
As the weeks of devotionals end, Walker borrows the words from a poem by Mary Oliver and asks this question to
all of us,” Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious
life?”
“Sometimes a singer has only one song,” concludes Walker, “a
preacher one sermon, a writer one book and a prophet one vision. Life is drawn into narrow and intense
focus. Now I know that my one question
for each person I meet is, “What is your dream for your one precious life?’
Each answer will shape the course of history.”
Because an individual listened to a voice beckoning him to follow his passion, the dream that Dr. Scott Walker and his wife once had, is now a
reality. The ‘Life Purpose Institute’, continues on today, at Mercer University, lighting a fire of
passion in the young people it serves.
Labels: Daily Guidepost Devotionals 2014;, Dr. Scott Walker; Life Purpose Insitutute, Mercer University
This week as I
emptied out my messy closet, I
came up with a methodical plan …. I took everything out and laid it on one of
three piles on my bed. The 1st pile was for
what was new, or what I really wanted to keep, the second pile was what I wanted
to get rid of, and the 3rd pile was the 'maybe, I’ll think about it later' pile. 
