Customer Reviews

Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life

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Hearing a call is a very difficult discernment process. Sometimes the call is clear, but the path is not. Sometimes the path is clear, but the desire is not. Gregg Levoy has done an exceptional job at being an in-print spiritual director for those seeking an entrance into the process of finding a true calling and a more authentic life.

What is right for me? and Where am I willing to be led? are the two essential questions -- Discernment requires that we ask these two questions continually and devotedly.

As Levoy says, 'people won't pursue their callings until the fear of doing so is finally exceeded by the pain of not doing so.' I have found this to be very true. It took a very long time to discern my call to the priesthood, and yet more time to decide that it is something I must do at all costs (and the costs have been heavy). Yet, I cannot imagine myself doing anything differently and being in any way fulfilled.

'The truest calls seem not only to keep coming back but also to make their way to us through many channels.'

Levoy integrates so much material here, from spiritual masters and the scriptural traditions of many religious faiths to modern psychology and artistic/cultural experts.

Perhaps the greatest chapter for me was that on 'Finding Clarity', in which Levoy says that 'there is such a thing as thinking too much about a calling.' As Emerson said, sometimes it is best to let the bird sing without trying to decipher the song. 'A calling is ultimately mysterious, and the process of discernment is always a bit of a guessing game.'

Levoy's guidance, in cooperation with others in my community, helped me to see a change of mindset, a change of events, a change of personalities were all converging to tell me something that I had closed my mind to, or, more accurately, had closed my heart to. So, I began to pray, even if only subconsciously, and the path began to materialise before my eyes.

'When I pray, coincidences start to happen. When I don't pray, they don't happen.' - William Temple

It also taught me that I couldn't wait for 'someday' -- how we spend our days is how we spend our lives, according to the apt observation of Annie Dillard.

And finally, it made me face what it was to keep saying no. There is a cost, and eventually God will get you anyway -- Jonah (remember Jonah and the great fish?) said no, but eventually had follow his call anyway. I learned that one source of my fear: 'One of the frightening prospects of saying yes to a calling is that you may find out who really supports you and who doesn't.'

Figuring out how to bring my call into being was the final task, and Levoy provided wisdom here as well. 'You cannot cross a chasm in two small jumps', he quoted Lloyd-George as saying; I was forced to create a response to my call, one that did not exist before.

Thus, not too long after discovering this book, I became Father Kurt, and I owe much to this book for that. But please, don't assume that it will tempt or trap you into a ministerial role--it is an excellent guide for discernment, and discernment is one of the most personal tasks for any human being. Prepare to be enlightened.

I'll have to admit that I'm a fairly big reader of self-help books. Many of the "to-do" lists in self-help books are useful, I found this book an internal to-do list. Instead of outward activities that many books ask you to partitipate in to make progress, this author advises looking to your most inner thoughts, your dreams, your conscience, in order to find what you really want out of life. It works. Listen to your quiet moments, pay more attention to your third sense and record the things that occur in your dreams. There is a direct relationship between all of these thoughts and the things that will make you happiest. Interesting thought in the book ... "What did you want to do when you were seven?" Think about it and the level of satisfaction you are getting our of life now.

This book is geared for anyone who is doing what life tells them to do..and still doesn't feel right. It reminds us to not ignore that subtle voice that will not leave us when we are not doing what the universe wants us to be doing. It reminds us that our intuition is there to help us find our path in life and that if we ignore the messages we will have a significant price to pay. Having been in the wrong career for 11 years, this book has inspired me to not only quit my job, but to follow that intuitive voice that has been hounding me for years. This book is perfect for anyone who "knows" that something needs to change in their life. I also will be throwing out a multitude of similar books that can't even touch the level of material in this book. Don't even hesitate to buy this one!! And no, I don't know the author and have never written a book review before.

I read this book a year ago and could not put it down. Reading it is like stepping into a dynamic conversation, with others who have struggled to find a genuine life, and with the deepest parts of oneself. It demands a response, a shift in focus. By the time I had finished, the margins of every page were filled with my own affirmations and exclamations of joy. I wrote a note in the front, sent it to a friend, and his experience was similar. Now he has written a note in the front, and has given it to the first of five friends waiting in line for it. I imagine this original volume in five years, tattered but brimming and alive with not just the voices that Levoy documents so lovingly, but also with the whispers, tears, and HALLELUJAHS of this widening circle of readers. Needless to say, I have sent new copies to countless others, and I'm here on line today to buy another copy for myself. It is a once-in-a-lifetime book.

I have a veritable library at home of self help and right livelihood titles. After reading this book, I am ready to sell all other titles to the half-price book store, and replace them on my shelf with this one. The author writes some of the most elegant prose I've read anywhere, coupled with unparalelled insights and illuminating examples. Believe me, I wouldn't even write a review unless I were so compelled!

The term "calling" is rather misleading: it implies something unequivocal and unmistakable, like Moses hearing a voice from the burning bush or Paul being knocked off his horse. But, more often, it's a whisper you have to strain to hear, or a series of little signs you'll overlook if you aren't paying attention. Levoy's book is less a how-to guide than a meditation on the nature of callings and how to listen for them. He uses many examples from his own life, but, to his credit, he doesn't take himself too seriously or pretend that he has The Answer to anyone's questions about the meaning of life -- even his own. And his subjective insights are balanced by plentiful examples from the experiences of others. His anecdotal style, his heavy use of quotations, and the circular structure of many chapters might frustrate a reader looking for direct guidance, but I found the book thought-provoking and intuition-stimulating. It's the sort of book you can pick up at any time, flip through, and find a paragraph or a chapter that sets off new sparks in your mind. My one complaint is that he often isn't specific enough about the source of a quotation -- e.g., "Goethe wrote ..." is NO help at all with the author of such bagatelles as Faust, Parts I and II! Otherwise, I thought his reference section offered excellent suggestions for further reading: you can pick a quotation that resonates with you, and follow it up with more of that author's writings. Finally, his writing is a great pleasure to read -- it's fluid without becoming monotonous, and well expresses the twists and eddies of his or his subject's thoughts. I enjoyed the book thoroughly, and plan to reread it.

This book is not for everyone. It is for people in a period of trouble or unease in their life. If you are a happy, content person- don't read it- spend your time in your own best way possible. I had a hard time getting through this book. I read 2-4 pages a day at the most. It is not that the material is hard, it is that it caused me to reflect so much that I had to spend time digesting all the stuff that it brought back to my mind.
Yes it is somewhat repetitive and relies on a lot of quotes- but- big deal? It is not meant to be an authoritative work of discourse on some academic matter. It is meant to help people in distress.
It is not a solution to all problems. But I found it helpful to help point me in a more productive way. It may or may not help others. But I do recommend at least looking at this book.

Levoy is a talented, beautiful writer and his concept of "callings" is a powerful way to make us all think about how to make our lives meaningful, and how to listen to that inner voice that our society is so good at training us to tune out.

However, the concept wears thin after about 100 pages. It gets repetitive. By the end of the book I felt like I feel after I've eaten too much chocolate. A little less would have been just as good.

Some of his examples get pretty new-agey, which is a shame since I think you can find your inner voice, listen and respond to your callings without having to go meditate in some desert or adopt a belief system that seems a bit "out there." His message is compelling enough that I'd hate to see it lost on people who aren't as inclined as he is toward the ethereal.

Still, compelling food for thought and a good way to kick yourself in the pants if you're feeling "stuck" and knowing there most be more to life than this.

This book is almost too good. It is so well written, so thorough, and so full of insight and wisdom from the author's own very believable and compelling anecdotes, as well as from literature and philosophy, that it exhausts every facet of 'callings.' You can open the book anywhere--don't have to read the pages in order--to find passages that speak to you. But in the end the message, to me, is fairly simple: take risks; don't live your life according to another's expectations or standards; be true to your values and talents; expect miracles yet don't be surprised if the full realization of a calling takes time. In other words, it's a wonderful source for living, but don't assume that it will manifest your calling for you. And don't confuse a wishful or deluded fantasy for a calling--not always easy to discern. The book is in some ways the story of the author's relationship to his own calling, writing, which has taken him on a journey leading to this very highly regarded book. Other people/characters in the book who have found their callings have done so because...better if you read their stories.

This book is a book that should be read by every person at some point in their lives if not several times in their lives. I have read and re-read Callings several times and each time there is something new to gain from this deep and insightful work. Gregg Levoy's writing is so full and intertwined with ideas, stories, practical exercises and inspiration, that depending on the point you are at in your life, this is the book for you. Whether you have no idea what you want to do with your life, or you need to refine your callings (as Levoy writes we all have more than one), there is a story in this work for you. When I first read Callings I believed I had a good handle of what my calling is, and by the end of my first reading my vision and calling had expanded exponentially. Now I return to this great book to further refine, and find new life in old callings - and to find new callings as my life-path continues. What a gift - and I say again - a must read for a fulfilling life!