The Call

by David Spangler

Each of us yearns to fulfill our calling. Yet this can be a confusing task. Many of us have sought to fulfill it through our vocations--believing that what we do defines who we are. But this is akin to looking for love in all the wrong places, says David Spangler. Our calling, in the truest sense, is to give and receive love. From this plain and simple truth, Spangler shows us how we can fulfill our call in everyday moments.

Genres: Nonfiction, Spirituality

118 pages

First published January 1, 1996

Reviews

[Iona Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've known Spangler's work for years. I've known him previously as being a guru-type personage attached to the wonderful spiritual centre of Findhorn, Scotland. I read several of his books many years ago, but couldn't tell you what I concretely got out of them.

In this little book Spangler discusses getting, or not getting, a call to tell us what we're supposed to do on this Earth.

He relates how he was "called" away from his university studies at the age of 20, much against his will. He doesn't specify what exactly he was called to do except generally work on his spiritual development. He tells how a spirit being whom he called John came to work with him. John led him to do psychic readings for people, which he at first was vehemently opposed to. Here he experienced that the one question asked by most people was "What is my calling?" He understood that a person's calling was simply to be him- or herself, how to be his/her essence - love. The primal background call is to love oneself, to love others, and to love the "sacred". That is, our basic mission is to manifest the Spirit of the Beloved in our life. Only rarely did John say to someone that he was here to do something specific. What the Earth needs is "more compassion, more gentleness and sweetness, more caring, more love, more valuing of one another".

He recounts an Arthurian story about Sir Gawain and his wife Ragnall, illustrating that an important example of loving behaviour is "giving back power and honouring the integrity of another - valuing who the other is".

Our call is also individuality and to "integrate our individuality into the community, into communion with humanity - to contribute, to cocreate, and to serve".

The flipside of every call or summons is transformation of the one summoned. The hero and the shaman "do not remain untouched by their quests" - their transformations are part of the gifts they bring back.

First and foremost, we must practise mindfulness and answer the little calls or summonses that are in front of us in our everyday life, We thus prepare the ground for a bigger call.

We are always called - if we were not loved, we wouldn't be here on Earth. We must have times of silence where we need to listen - it is then we will hear the primal call, what Spangler terms "the Big Bang of love". We create our own calling, moment by moment. "If we want to hear the big call, we cannot ignore the little ones."

This is a "quiet", simple book, which calls us back to ourselves, gives us grounding and reminds us of the importance of love, of receiving that love in our everyday lives and transmitting it to all our fellow human beings, the animals, plants, the Earth and everything there is.

An inspiring book, highly recommended!

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think David Spangler says it best. “Calls are all around us. We are never bereft of calls. But sometimes we just have to be poised and alert and aware in all directions to listen and to perceive them. We have to recognize that some calls come as whispers, some calls come in very ordinary ways. If we want to hear the big calls, we cannot ignore the little ones. After all, the call that comes with little ‘c’ may be every bit as important, and may in fact be the foundation that allows us to receive the call with a capital ‘C’.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Stars

[Jeanettedianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

i really liked this book...very uplifting

[Jeff Youngstrom]

My review from December 14, 1998