Conflicted Callings: Purity of Heart Is to Will Several Things

Abstract

Abstract This chapter engages the difficulties of having multiple callings (e.g., work, family, social justice activism, spiritual practices). Different from missed or blocked callings, the challenge is not restriction or limitation but overabundance and depletion. How does one follow more than one calling well without serious cost or consequence? Reigning myths obscure this dilemma. It’s amazing how often term calling, singular, rather than callings, plural, is used. The chapter focuses initially on the clash of commitments in middle adulthood with job entry and advancement, householding, partner relationships, avocational pursuits, parenting, care of parents and close friends, and political or religious commitments. The chapter also considers the conflicts caused by devoting ourselves to larger causes such as social justice. It concludes with suggestions about compromise, imperfection (being “good enough”), protest, solidarity, reform, and everyday practices.