Sacred Heart #7

“And, pausing before one who was blind and furthermore had lost a limb, I pondered.  So old, so near the grave was he, groaning like a rusty mill-wheel when he moved, and halting in his speech, for he was full of years and the light of words had grown dim for him – yet ever he was becoming more luminous, brighter, apter for the task for which he had made the barter of himself.  With trembling hands he continued perfecting his fretwork, which had become for him as an elixir, ever subtler and more potent.  Thus, escaping by a miracle from his gnarled old flesh, he was growing ever happier, more and more invulnerable.  More and more imperishable.  And, dying, knew it not, his hands being full of stars.”  Excerpt from “The Wisdom of the Sands”

Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900-1944) was a French writer, poet, journalist and aviator working airmail routes across Europe, Africa and South America. As well as the author of the classic children’s story, The Little Prince, Saint-Eupery published several works inspired by aviation including Wisdom of the Sands, and his memoir, Wind, Sand and Stars.

I read The Wisdom of the Sands over 30 years ago and this excerpt still has the power to bring tears to my eyes. It is an example, although fictional, of a true vocation. The word vocation comes from the Latin word vocare, to call, and it is this call we all listen for, the small, still voice that will tell us what direction to take, what purpose to pursue, what task we have been made for.

The concept of vocation answers the question we all have, particularly when young, “Why am I here?”  It provides not the ultimate answer, but the earthly answer. What are we going to be when we grow up? What task shall we barter ourselves for? What price are we willing to pay?

This work may not ultimately make us rich or famous – but it will make us more fulfilled, more imperishable. And the work we do when we follow our vocation is one only we can provide. It is our unique contribution to life. Following a vocation is the path in which the desires of the small self are traded for the needs of the larger Self; in it we may taste, for an instant, the joy of perfection, and our hands will be filled with stars.

  “When I give, I give myself.”  Walt Whitman