Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life

This book addresses a subject near and dear to my heart, a subject that has brought clarity and confusion, gratification and frustration to my life. The book is subtitled Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life. I have read more than a few books and essays on this subject and have heard my share of presentations.Having said that, I sometimes feel just as mystified as I was when I first started on my journey to answer the question, “Why am I here?” And “Am I doing what I am supposed to be doing?”In what Guinness calls the haunting question, he refers to Vaclav Havel, former president of the free Czech Republic and his Letters to Olga. Havel was also a playwright who spoke truth to the power of Soviet totalitarianism. His stance and actions led to four and a half years of hard labor in prison. His letters to his wife from prison join the writings of Deitrich Bonhoeffer’s WWII Letters and Papers from Prison as two of the best writings from prison.The writings focus the struggle to find meaning in life and conclude that responsibility is the key to human identity. Havel calls responsibility the “knife to carve our portraits of reality and the pen to write our stories on the scroll of history”. . .”responsibility does establish identity, be we are not responsible because of our identity, instead we have an identity because we are responsible”. In a world that seems to be turning away from personal responsibility, these are powerful thoughts.Os says that the “notion of life as karma, or the belief that your future is unchangeably written, is as far from the truth of calling as you can get”. Deep stuff, yes, but very though provoking.If you saw the Amazing Grace movie, you may remember William Wilberforce, member of the British Parliament whom Os calls the “least known great reformer in Western history”. You will likely find the connection of Wilberforce to English poet, clergyman, and former slave trader John Newton, who wrote the wonderful song, as intriguing as the movie.Okay, this is not light reading, but it is more deep than complex and is packed with quotes to treasure such as, “A man must love a thing very much if he not only practices it without any hope of fame or money, but even practices it without any hope of doing it well”. This is from G. K. Chesterton, putting his own slant on the traditional proverb, “If a thing is worth doing, it is worth doing badly.” Words to remember as I just keep on writing books that don’t sell very well.Here’s another one from Os, “Calling is a reminder for followers of Christ that nothing in life should be taken for granted; everything in life must be received with gratitude.”

Good book

(Posting this review on a shared family Amazon account.)I am a 26 year old millennial guy seeking to live a meaningful and dedicated life for the glory of God. The Call was commended to me as a great book uncovering the true nature of calling and rescuing it from the captivity of specificity and exactitude. The commendation was abundantly fulfilled.The Call has proven to be a rich encouragement and exhortation relevant for all believers. Os Guinness relentlessly and exhaustively exhorts the believer to honor his or her call to live as a child of the King in every way possible. Having never read any works by Os Guinness I was not sure what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised but not only extremely high readability but also a comprehensive enrichment fueled by his obviously deep cultural and historical knowledge. I would venture to say a good quarter (if not third) of this book is quotation from such greats of the faith as GK Chesterson, Dorothy Sayers, Luther, Calvin, Bonhoeffer, and a very wide range of cultural and historical figures.Having finished the last fifth of the book in one sitting I find myself both emboldened and empowered by the broad context for fulfilling our call that Guinness puts forth. And by holding up so many examples from the halls of faith, Guinness encourages us that the type of calling he his suggesting has been lived over and over again in history, and many others have seen calling in much the same way he does. This is certainly no new or novel idea, but a rich and fulfilling distillation of Christian thought and life.Do not expect an exposition so much as a journey through the halls of calling's house. If you're expecting a "how to" on perceiving and fulfilling your specific occupational calling or job you will be disappointed, but this book is all the more for you. That is what I came to it for, but I have walked away with a far greater appreciation for the true calling of our God beyond specific occupational endeavors.The Call is almost certainly going to become an annual staple for me. I highly recommend it for believers in any stage of life.

Rich and engaging, well written and thoughtful, but most importantly bursting with the truth of calling that our generation and family of believers need to hear!

During this era of global recession of intrinsic values and pandemic of moral, ethical and spiritual decay; this book has served for me as a compass to navigate through into the highest value of human being and living 'the call' of my life!

Many in the world are driven and these we seem to admire as successful. Rather, than being pushed, we must be pulled - called - by the Caller who guides and enables. Find this Caller at all costs and your calling and you will be truly successful!

They say, "there's no such thing as Guinness light" and they are right!! This is no light read but worth every moment and second of attention. Wisdom is so rare these days - here it is in abundance! Perhaps enjoyed accompanies by some of the family's signature Stout???

Absolutely the best book I ever read on calling. It's deep and refreshing and gives you a new understanding about the plans and purposes of God for your life. Guinness in my opinion can already be numbered among the great Christian Authors of this century. A must-read.