Bearing the Cross in Vocation
- For all of the exalted spiritual significance in everyday life posited by the doctrine of vocation -- how God is present and active in our work and our relationship -- it is evident that we often fail, suffer, and experience frustrations in our vocations.
- Since God is at work in vocation, observes Wingren, the devil seeks to thwart vocation. One way is to turn it away from sacrificial service and love of neighbor to a 'theology of glory', to self-aggrandizement, pride in good works, and the achievement of a spiritually vacuous success.
- Another ploy of the devil is to pry the person out of his or her calling.
- Trials in vocation drive us to prayer. Prayer, from our perspective, brings God into our vocation.
- "Prayer is the door through which God, Creator and Lord, enters creatively into home, community, and labor." (Wingren)
