Spring 2021 Feature: ‘Luther, Vocation, and the Search for Significance’

Among the bevy of books, both popular and academic, that promise a path to purpose, a significant number have invoked the concept of vocation to help chart the course. Their accounts come in a variety of forms: Christian, generically religious, and even studiously non-religious. Yet a substantial number of these accounts share a common set of features. They define significance partly in terms of the subjective experience of satisfaction, they embed significance within their account of vocation, and as a result they portray vocation as a social or occupational arrangement not yet realized, toward which we are being called.1 In order to find significance in life, we must hear the call and follow where it leads. The present becomes preparatory; fulfillment lies in the future.

CLICK HERE to read the full essay by David W. Loy, with responses from Robert Benne, Suzanne Hequet, and Kiara Jorgenson, and a follow-up response from Dr. Loy.