Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life (Paperback)

by Gregg Michael Levoy (Author) "Some years ago, at a hands-on science museum in San Francisco known as the Exploratorium, I saw an exhibit called a particle chamber..." (more)
Key Phrases: New York, New Mexico, Carl Jung (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Gregg Levoy has written about the nature of guidance with a ringing clarity."

-- Caroline Myss, Ph.D., author of Anatomy of the spirit

"Gregg Levoy offers ... a strong clarion voice."

-- Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D., author of Women Who Run with the Wolves

"Wonderful! [Levoy's] material is both spiritual and practical."

-- Larry Dossey, M.D.. author of Healing Words -- Review --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
"Gregg Levoy has written about the nature of guidance with a ringing clarity."

-- Caroline Myss, Ph.D., author of Anatomy of the spirit

"Gregg Levoy offers ... a strong clarion voice."

-- Clarissa Pinkola Estes, Ph.D., author of Women Who Run with the Wolves

"Wonderful! [Levoy's] material is both spiritual and practical."

-- Larry Dossey, M.D.. author of Healing Words --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; Reprint edition (September 8, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0609803700
• ISBN-13: 978-0609803707
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,989 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

52 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hearing a call..., May 10, 2003

By	FrKurt Messick "FrKurt Messick" (Bloomington, IN USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

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.

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good advice that can come from within, June 11, 2000

By	Robert F. Weir "robfweir" (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is a calling!, March 26, 2001

By A Customer

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.