Who We’re Called to Become | James Martin

Becoming Wise

On Being Studios

Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.2 • 796 Ratings

🗓️ 3 June 2019

⏱️ 6 minutes

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Summary

Father James Martin is a beloved Jesuit writer and teacher who says desire ultimately is not selfish — and instead a path to understanding our callings in life. He says everyone has a vocation, not just monastics and clergy. And he wants all of us to ask: What moves me? “We all have an image of the person we want to become — more loving, more open, more free. That’s a call,” he says. James Martin is editor at large of “America” magazine. His books include “The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything,” “Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor and Laughter are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life,” and, most recently, “Building a Bridge.” Find the transcript at onbeing.org.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Becoming Wise is supported by the Fetzer Institute.
0:09.8	I've had hundreds of big conversations, and my conversation partners share wisdom I carry with me wherever I go.
0:18.3	Father James Martin is a well-known and beloved Jesuit writer and teacher.
0:23.0	He's followed the calling of the founder of the Jesuit order, St. Ignatius of Loyola,
0:28.4	to find God in all things. He does so in 21st century forms, including a wise and witty
0:35.3	presence on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
0:38.6	But everyone, Father Martin, says, has callings, a vocation.
0:43.5	This is not something merely for monastics and clergy.
0:51.8	This is becoming wise. I'm Krista Tippett.
1:07.3	I did not know the part of your story that, you know, that you didn't, you know, because you are known as a religious figure.
1:14.7	I did not realize that you studied business in college and worked in corporate finance for GE into your mid-20s and only then were captured.
1:25.8	It seems by Thomas Merton.
1:28.7	And somewhere in one of your books, you pull out this first paragraph of No Man is an Island.
1:35.1	Why do we spend our lives striving to be something that we would never want to be if only we knew what we wanted?
1:42.2	Why do we waste our time doing things, which if we only stop to think about them, are just the opposite of what we were made for?
1:50.5	Yeah, that's the line that changed my life, really.
1:53.2	And I just thought, why?
1:55.3	Why am I doing that?
1:57.4	And it felt like he was speaking directly to me.
2:00.5	And I felt like, you know, business is a real vocation for a lot of people.
2:05.0	And it just wasn't for me.
2:06.7	And I was miserable.
	...

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