Steeping ourselves in a place, simmering in its bounties, celebrating its wonders, and loving its peculiarities are necessary steps on a spiritual journey. We often take for granted the places where we work and play. To get to know them again, or perhaps for the first time, involves acts of consecration and imagination. Or as Wendell Berry puts it: "My most inspiring thought is that this place, if I am to live well in it, requires and deserves a lifetime of the most careful attention."
It is not easy to distinguish between doing what we are called to do and doing what we want to do.Our many wants can easily distract us from our true action.True action leads us to the fulfillment of our vocation. . . . Actions that lead to overwork, exhaustion, and burnout can't praise and glory God.What God calls us to do we can do and do well.When we listen in silence to God's voice and speak with our friends in trust we will know what we are called to do.We will do it with a grateful heart.