One the hardest parts of discerning a call is the time it takes. Discernment is a sometimes slow and hard process.
But just what is a process? Merriam-Webster's defines a process as a natural phenomenon marked by gradual changes that lead toward a particular result. Notice that processes are natural - they have a life of their own and follow rules not of our making. Notice, too, that processes are gradual changes. Processes creep and crawl and meander, sometimes at a barely-noticeable pace.
A process is a lot like a garden in that we begin a journey with the hope of producing something - fruit, herbs, or vegetables in the case of a garden, clarity and direction in the case of the vocational process. But for both of these processes to produce the desired results, they must be allowed to proceed at a natural pace, a pace the process itself dictates. Not easy to live with, that.
In the typically fast and furious pace of Western life we struggle with the slow and easy character of process. To begin to develop our process toleration skills, it's helpful to begin tuning into processes wherever and whenever we find them. Try this:
- Make a list of all the processes you find yourself experiencing throughout the day.
Just ate breakfast? That's a process. Off to exercise? That's process, too. On your way to work? That's another process. So is work itself, earning money, digestion, and so on ....
If you begin to notice the processes at work within and around you, you'll soon notice that they're quite endless. You may also notice that many, if not all of them, are related to each other. Like those Russian dolls hidden within each other, processes are buried within processes which nestle within still more processes. Find one, and it will lead you to more. Get comfortable with one or more processes in your life, and you'll soon expand your ability to tolerate the wait for a call to emerge with ever-increasing clarity.
