similar aims, dissimilar results

Ever wonder what God put you on the Earth to accomplish? I do. All the time. And so, as is my fashion, I decided recently that God would tell me exactly what I needed to know through the reading of a book, or perhaps two. Providentially, I was just given a book on vocation as a gift from a friend, and Bill Hybels' newest book is on vocation. So, not wanting to look a gift of providence in the the mouth, I read them. The first, Parker J. Palmer's Let Your Life Speak. The second, Holy Discontent by Bill Hybels.

Let me start by saying that I appreciated the insights into life that each present; however, each of them approaches the concept of vocation and calling from a different direction. Palmer chooses an inward direction for the thrust of his message, whereas Hybels travels outward.

Palmer begins his book exploring the idea of the "true self," later referring to the concept as the seed of ourselves that has been planted inside each of us. He continues, saying that, while we can never reach this ideal self, we can get ever closer by taking a close look at what it says.
His explanation of the title, in the first chapter of the book, is very telling of his idea of vocation. Palmer takes his title from an old Quaker saying which implies letting your life be a witness to others. Palmer reinterprets the saying for himself so that it means:

Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you. Before you tell your life what truths and values you have decided to live up to, let your life tell you what truths you embody, what values you represent.

This is at the same time an incredibly helpful, and largely unhelpful statement. In a culture where segments never take the time to stop and think if there's anything more to life than death and taxes, the idea that there is a deeper reality could create a new way of thinking. For someone who attempts to live in the deeper spiritual reality which God has created for us, Palmer's statement comes off as existential navel-gazing.

From a faith perspective, Palmer fails to follow-through with his theology. While he begins with God as the creator of our inner-self, he never claims Him as the end. At places, Palmer alludes to it, he dances around it, but he never comes out and says that God has anything to do with our vocation, other than creating it. That being said, Let Your Life Speak never claims to be a primer on theology, and in what it sets out to do, the book is sufficient.

Bill Hybels, on the other hand, addresses the issue of entering God's will right from the get go. Holy Discontent is primarily concerned with the question, how do we find, and maintain, vocation which we are passionate about. Hybels' answer, which he pulls through the entirety of the book is, essentially, that each of us has an inner Popeye. Hybels uses stories from the Bible, from his life, and from people he has had the privilege of meeting over the course of his life to show moments where God has used a fire of passion to direct the person to movement. With Popeye they've all said, in one way or another, "That's all I can stands, and I can't stands no more!"

Hybels does an excellent job avoiding ambiguity and generalities, providing concrete examples and direction of how to approach your "Holy discontent." I highly recommend this book to anyone looking for direction in their life, and who care as much about the "God aspects" of vocation as the personal ones. While Hybels doesn't give any concrete answers about what you should do with your life (much to my chagrin), his book does help by providing places to look for clues and ways to confirm those suspicions and passions that are lurking at the back of your mind.

I found both books very helpful in my quest to discern God's will for my life, but if I had to recommend only one, it would be Holy Discontent hands down. Although, it might be because I hummed the Popeye theme-song while I read the book.