Day 11: Vocation
published on Friday, July 2, 2010 by fg37@duke.edu
At a Glance
Theme
Vocation
Faculty Speaker
Rev. Dr. Fred Edie, Associate Professor of the Practice of Christian Education and Faculty Director of the Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation
Lectionary Texts
Jeremiah 1:4-10; Psalm 139:1-18,23-24; 1 Corinthians 3-4:1; Matthew 10:1-14
Reflections on the Lecture
Today we talked about Life in the Spirit as it relates to discerning our vocation. The words “calling” and “vocation” are often used interchangeably, because the word vocation actually comes from the Latin vocare, which means to call. We discussed some things that may hinder us from going forward in God’s will when he does call us to do something. That list included fear, doubt, opinions of others, anxiety, frustration, and a lack of rationale behind the directive. Dr. Edie pointed out that the Holy Spirit drives you to a calling, which in turn causes you to do what God has fashioned for you to do, and become what and who God wants you to be. Dr. Edie then went on to ask the listeners to do a self-inventory and ask certain questions that would lead to hearing God about personal vocation.
Quotes
“No matter how you feel, shutting others out is simply not God’s way.” — Dr. Edie, During Plenary
“There is nothing more urgent than the fact that we are using up God’s creation faster than it can be replenished.” — Dr. Edie, During Plenary
“An authentic worship experience can only come from a lifestyle of worship.” — Rev. Julian Pridgen during worship workshop reflection
Other Activities
Today marked our last visit to the DYA Arts Village. In today’s session, students were invited to “go deeper” with the artist of their choosing, exploring that artist’s craft and vocation more fully. We also attended our final prayer practice, yet another chance to get to experience prayer in various Christian traditions. In the evening, the Rev. Kyle Childress, the father of one of our students, preached our final student-planned worship service, and Bishop Ken Carder, the grandfather of one of our students, presided at the Table. Rev. Childress challenged all of us to think boldly about the joys – and costs – of discipleship and vocation in Jesus Christ.
Looking Ahead
Tomorrow is our final full day at DYA, and so it seems appropriate that the theme for tomorrow is the Coming Reign of God. We’ll welcome Dr. J. Kameron Carter, Associate Professor of Theology and Black Church Studies at Duke Divinity School, as our plenary speaker. In the afternoon, we’ll have lots of free time to enjoy fellowship, pack, and prepare for tomorrow’s departure. In the evening, DYA Director Katherine Smith and Faculty Director Fred Edie will lead us in our final worship service. Please be in prayer for us as we prepare to return to our home communities!
We continued on our theme of life in the Spirit, building on the idea of church as witness by exploring the theme of reconciliation. Professor Amy Laura Hall challenged us to explore what reconciliation looks like across races, inciting our imagination through pop culture references past and present, using old magazine clips from the early 1900s to show the subtle and not so subtle ways that race has functioned historically and also showing us a clip from Disney's High School Musical to show how Disney has marketed to us a reconciliation that is one of cheap grace, "the body of Christ with no wounds." The road to racial reconciliation, Hall pointed out, is a hard road to traverse. Hall ended her lecture by challenging us to explore how our lives have been complicit in putting up walls to race reconciliation--and how we can do the hard work so that we can come to the table together in the name of Christ, the Lord of us all. 
In this morning’s plenary, Dr. Hauerwas challenged our presumptions about the nature and role of the Church in our lives and in the world. He argued that truly knowing Christ is not possible outside the Church, a community of witnesses brought into new life through the story of God's saving love, a story that we too were grafted into in our baptism. Dr. Hauerwas urged us to consider that the Church’s purpose is not to make the world more just but to “make the world the world.” In the midst of a modern culture that values freedom, independent thought and pride above all else, Christianity offers salvation, a “new way of living” that is an alternative to the violence, fear and loneliness that stand behind the world’s promises. Dr. Hauerwas pushed us to realize that God’s call is to a life of “dysfunction” where we are set apart from the world's reality based on the reality of the gospel.