Answering the Call

David Brooks says that following one's passion, at least for young graduates, is poor advice:

Very few people at age 22 or 24 can take an inward journey and come out having discovered a developed self.

Most successful young people don't look inside and then plan a life. They look outside and find a problem, which summons their life. A relative suffers from Alzheimer's and a young woman feels called to help cure that disease. A young man works under a miserable boss, and must develop management skills so his department can function. Another young woman finds herself confronted by an opportunity she never thought of in a job category she never imagined. This wasn't in her plans, but this is where she can make her contribution.

Most people don't form a self and then lead a life. They are called by a problem, and the self is constructed gradually by their calling.

College teaches us to be open to new experiences and new perspectives. But that kind of openness demands little courage compared to that which is required to answer a call.

If we're lucky, we get opportunities to learn, to make more money, and to increase responsibilities without having to give up the things and people whom we care about. But that happy circumstance is rare. Many hear the call--to teach, to fight, to minister, to lead, to give--but the price is often too steep. From Luke 18:

You know the commandments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'

"All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.

When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."

When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth.

In 21st century Silicon Valley young entrepreneurs are treading the middle ground. They haven't (yet) given away their wealth--after all, who would have the nerve to do that before the age of 30--but they do shun its outward and visible signs:

"Things can't bring you happiness," [27-year-old Facebook billionaire Dustin] Moskovitz said. "I have pictured myself owning expensive things and easily came to the conclusion that I would not have a materially more meaningful life because of them."

Aaron Patzer, 30, who sold his company for $170 million, chimed: "Wealth needs a purpose greater than big houses and flashy cars."

It's easy to sound virtuous when one is a whippersnapper with a seven-figure bank account. But it wasn't that long ago that we believed that a $100,000 salary meant that we had made it to the top. $100K per year meant that we could quit striving and turn our attention to that which was really important. But we didn't step off the ladder. We grew accustomed to $100,000, then $200,000 or more.

We didn't answer the call in years past, but thankfully it's not too late. These young people, by their example, are showing us how.