Calling and Vocation

In her compelling and accessible new book, Follow Your Bliss (and Other Lies about Calling), Bonnie Miller-McLemore explores the concept of “calling” from a wide range of angles and perspectives. She dives into questions like, “What happens to people - and to the world - when callings are thwarted?” The book acknowledges the privilege that often accompanies the word “calling” - the element of choice it implies, not available to all.

How do we live well with conflicted callings? We are partners and parents, we are teachers and writers, we are pastors and preachers and administrators…Miller-McLemore suggests a change in philosophy and attitude more than skillful juggling and balancing - and she addresses the larger societal issues as well.

Miller-McLemore carefully selects language to capture nuanced experiences: fractured callings, unexpected callings, relinquished callings, among others.

Throughout the book, she weaves in personal experience, stories from her own life and others, examples from literature and history.

This would be a great book for a clergy group to read together - I recommend it to anyone who wants to think more deeply about their life’s meaning, at any stage.