In my last post, we left off at a point where Chesterton used the example of the family as a foundation for what we know of humanity (in The Everlasting Man). This reminded me of Martin Luther's similar use of the pattern of the family when describing vocation and thought I might as well put that up here too:
Luther on Vocation:
"Vocatio can mean different things. It can refer to the very proclamation of the gospel, through which human beings are called to be the children of God. It can also be used as a meaning the work which each one does (p.1)...
Luther raises the direct question as to what it means to have a vocation. He answers that you occupy a station (Stand), you are husband or wife, son or daughter, boy or girl. Then he stresses the greatness of the responsibilities involved in these external relationships; if one had four heads and ten hands he would still be unable to fulfill them all. It is striking for example that being a chaste and moderate young person is part of one's vocation as son or daughter. Certainly the Ten Commandments are conceived as applicable...
Just orders, such as are ordained by God or those whose existence is not contrary to God's will, are husbands and wives, boys and girls, lords and ladies (p.3)...
A vocation is a 'station' which is by nature helpful to others if it be followed. It is important to emphasize the fact that vocation is not confined to an occupation, but includes... biological orders: father, mother, son, daughter... The life of the home, the relation between parents and children, is vocation, even as is life in the field of labor, the relation between employer and employee. In anything that involves action, anything that concerns the world or my relationship with my neighbor, there is nothing, Luther holds, that falls in a private sphere lying outside of station, office, or vocation.
It is only before God, i.e., in heaven, that the individual stands alone. In the earthly realm man always stands in relatione, always bound to another. From this it is clear that every Christian occupies a multitude of offices at the same time, not just one: the same man is, for instance, father of his children, husband of his wife, master of his servants, and office-holder in the town hall... all these are vocations (p. 4-5)...
'All stations are intended to serve others. But we go now this way and now that.' Here we come across what for Luther is the decisive contrast between God's self-giving love and man's egocentricity. The human being is self-willed, desiring that whatever happens shall be to his own advantage. When husband and wife, in marriage, serve one another and their children, this is not due to the heart's spontaneous and undisturbed expression of love, every day and hour. Rather, in marriage as an institution something compels the husband's selfish desires to yield and likewise inhibits the egocentricity of the wife's heart. At work in marriage is a power which compels self-giving to spouse and children. So it is the 'station' itself which is the ethical agent, for it is God who is active through the law on earth... creation is sustained... children receive food, clothing and care (p.6-7)...
God creates the babes in the mother's body--man being only an instrument in God's hand--and then he sustains them with his gifts, brought to the children through the labors of father and mother in their parental office. 'Even though a father is an instrument of procreation, God himself is the source and author of life...' Care for one's office is, in its very frame of reference on earth, participation in God's own care for human beings (p.9)...
So vocation belongs to this world, not to heaven; it is directed toward one's neighbor, not toward God. This is an important preliminary characteristic. In his vocation one is not reaching up to God, but rather bends oneself down toward the world. When one does that, God's creative work is carried on. God's work of love takes form on earth, and that which is external witnesses to God's love. If we note properly how much good God bestows upon us, both through his direct creation and through all his created orders, we shall know the truth that he forgives sins. 'God has shown the forgiveness of sins in all his creation.' But in dealing with the forgiveness of sins we enter another realm, the eternal, heavenly kingdom (p.10)..."
Do you see why the family is such an important model?
Even in our birth, we were put into the world with an understanding of vocation. There had to have been a place for a mother, for a father, and for you. Otherwise, your birth wouldn't have even happened. There would have been no one there to take care of you, let alone conceive you and birth you.
In this simply deep example, we naturally and instinctively know that we have a place in the world, a calling and a need, to be there for one another and to depend on each other... Not in just one way, but in many. As a wife/mother/daughter/sister/niece or a husband/father/son/brother/uncle. Each relation is unique. But, each relation is important.
"We will not be able to destroy the family. We will merely destroy ourselves by disregarding the family." G.K. Chesterton.
"We will not be able to destroy the family. We will merely destroy ourselves by disregarding the family." G.K. Chesterton.
No comments:
Post a Comment