Who Am I?: Exploring Your Identity through Your Vocations

by Scott Ashmon (Editor), Christopher Nagel (Contribution by), John J. Norton (Contribution by), Jonathan Ruehs (Contribution by), Ken Sundet Jones (Contribution by)

Overview

Who am I? What’s my purpose in life? How should I live? This book invites you to explore your identity through your callings, to imagine living virtuously for others, and to discover deep meaning and satisfaction in life. You’ll look at many vocations that young people have or will have later in life. Callings covered include being a student, citizen, neighbor, worker, care-taker of nature, husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, parent, child, sibling, saint and priest, and friend. Chapters on these callings examine the nature and responsibilities of these roles in light of human and divine wisdom found in the liberal arts tradition and the Bible. You’ll also entertain the role that avocations play in life and how such enthusiastic pursuits can renew and equip you. Each chapter contains exercises for reflection and discussion that can be done privately, with a partner, or in a group.
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781945978937
Publisher:	1517 Publishing
Publication date:	07/14/2020
Pages:	200
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.63(d)

About the Author

Scott Ashmon is Associate Provost at Concordia University in Irvine, CA. He earned his Ph.D. from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati, OH. He has also written and edited works on the Old Testament, the ancient Near East, and Christian higher education.
 

Table of Contents

Introduction, Scott Ashmon vii

Identity: A Task or Given? Chad Lakies 1

Virtue in Vocation: The Path to Deep Satisfaction with Life, Jeff Mallinson 23

To Be a Student: Vocation and Leisure in Service to Neighbor, Scott Ashmon and Scott Keith 47

Living Politically and Globally, Adam S. Francisco 65

Living Honorably as a Worker, Christopher "Kit" Nagel 81

Hearing the Call to Care for Nature, Sarah L. Karam 95

Knit Together in Love: Vocation in Marriage and Family Life, Buddy Mendez 117

The Church: A Call to God's Family, Jonathan Ruehs 143

The Vocation of Friendship: A Disruptive and Healing Force, John Norton 157

Take a Load off and Take a Look Around, Ken Sundet Jones 175

Editorial Reviews

This gathering of insights from faculty members at Concordia University Irvine offers a useful contribution to the growing national conversation about vocation and calling. The rich history of this terminology is being redeployed as a way of helping young people, particularly college students, to reflect on and discern their future directions in life. While some of these chapters will be most useful within their original ecclesial context, others will have wider appeal-including the chapters on virtue, on the vocation of a student, and on the importance of our avocations. As an added bonus, the chapter on friendship may be the first ever to enter into extended conversation with both King Lear and the Spice Girls!

David S. Cunningham, Professor of Religion, Hope College, and Director, Network for Vocation in Undergraduate Education (NetVUE), Council of Independent Colleges

A great tragedy for Lutherans and Christians of all stripes is that Luther's wonderful teaching on vocation has not been adequately communicated to the laity. This book, edited by Scott Ashmon, is a vigorous and fruitful response to that need. He and colleagues from Concordia University in Irvine, who earlier responded to a need for serious reflection on what it means to be a Christian University in their Idea and Practice of a Christian University, have now trained their considerable talents on illuminating and communicating Lutheran insights on the vocation of the laity. They do so by exploring lay callings in a variety of settings, from marriage and family life to politics. They have admirably exercised their vocation as Christian teachers.

Robert Benne, Professor of Christian Ethics at the Institute of Lutheran Theology, Brookings, South Dakota

Author of Ordinary Saints: An Introduction to the Christian Life (Fortress)

From the Publisher