Discovering vocation does not mean scrambling toward some prize just beyond my reach but accepting the treasure of true self I already possess. Vocation ... comes from a voice "in here" calling me to be the person I was born to be, to fulfill the original selfhood given me at birth by God. (p.10)This vision is freeing at first glance. Vocation-- God's call-- is not about living up to some list of things that I'm supposed to do. It's about going inside, living out what brings me joy, listening for my "true self".
And yet. I don't like the concept that who I really am is given to me, and I just need to listen for it. Rather, I create myself through the choices I make. Who I "really" wind up being could be pretty far from who I was called to be.
Perhaps it's a matter of language. Palmer prefers to say that our true selves exist and we can either live them out honestly or dishonestly. I prefer to say our true selves are what we make them, but that we can answer or reject to God's call to be a (very general) kind of person.
What then is discernment? Practical wisdom: figuring out how to respond to God's call given what we in particular have got: a history, a body, a community.
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