Career vs. Vocation

My unmarried younger sister is a talented florist. We were discussing life the other day and she mentioned that she felt unsettled. I looked at her in some consternation and asked if she was thinking about giving up her work as a florist in a thriving shop. She explained that she did not like having a “career” because it seemed so feminist and selfish. That gave me pause for thought, because the truth is that in my own mind a “career woman” has a decidedly unflattering connotation. It smacks of the selfish woman who has put herself and her ambitions ahead of her family duties. I do not say that this connotation is necessarily just in every case, but there you have it. I pointed out to my sister that she does her work each day for God, and she asked, “It’s still a career, isn’t it?”

I began to think more about this subject, and gradually it became clear in my mind what the dividing line is between work being a “career” and work being a “vocation”. It is not a career just because it is secular work or because the person doing the work is successful. It is not a career just because education is a prerequisite to the work or because the same work is done for many years. No. Work becomes a career when it is undertaken with self gratification being the reason for doing the work involved. With some a career gratifies pride, with others it is ambition or wealth, but with all careerists the gratification of ego is a goal. On the other hand, a “vocation” is work undertaken and accomplished for the love of God and in accordance with His will.

We too often think of a “vocation” as being a call to the religious life and nothing else. This is not entirely correct. A call to the religious life is indeed a vocation, but the married life and the single life are vocations as well. So also is the work undertaken to make a living when it is undertaken with God in mind and as a means of fulfilling His will. Every butcher, baker and candlestick maker may choose whether his work is to be a career or a vocation. A career may gratify self by inflating the ego, but the rewards are enjoyed in this life alone. A vocation can satisfy self by giving work an exalted purpose and its rewards are enjoyed in this life and in the life hereafter.

The choice is ours to make: will we do our work for God and to please Him, or will we do our work for ourselves and to make us feel important? Considering that work when undertaken for God earns an eternal reward, it seems rather foolish to have a career when we could have a vocation and do the same work we’re doing already. What it all boils down to is who do we think is more important: ourselves or God?