In Will Campbell's "Vocation as Grace", he accounts on a time in which he asked a circus man why he did what he did. Aside from him saying that it was a rush of adrenaline and good pay, the man said he did it because his family was up there with him. So Campbell asks, "But why do they stay up there?" The man replies by saying, "Because I drink too much!"
In this segment Campbell is challenging the 'conventional Christian notion' that a vocation relies purely on oneself. In this case, he believes that we depend on others and others depend on us for strong impulses and callings. For the circus man, he was dependent and reliant on his family every night due to his frequent intoxicated self. If it weren't for them, he could be dead.
I concur with Campbell in the sense that others have a major influence on how we are inspired to act or live. If it was just a world with ourselves, we would have nothing to relate to or model after. Also, it is much more enjoyable to interact with others than to be limited to a monotonous lifestlye.
1 comment:
Is he simply saying that other influence us or that vocation is not simply about making ourselves happy?
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