Does 'Call' Have an Expiration Date?

According to the Food and Drug Administration, an expiration date is the date past which a product, such as food or medicine, must be sold or removed from availability because it is no longer expected to be fresh or effective. In my musings, I was wondering if each of us in relationship to our call has an expiration date, and do we ever lose our freshness and effectiveness?

God's nature has always been about sharing, including and being all embracing, thinking personally, intimately, and acting galactically, cosmically and beyond! God has always invited human beings to share in the divine mission in the world. God's call "comes long before we hear it. It lingers until we name it, and it never completely goes away." God's call to us is continuous, particular, and it takes a lifetime to truly grasp it, for it "grows and changes as we come into a fuller realization of our adult journey of faith."

Call is not a onetime deal. There is no "drive-thru" for call. It is a lifelong conversation with God to explore and discover our direction and purpose. This is God's design for us: to find and follow our mysterious path of hope, joy and service.

I definitely know that when I was in third grade, I sensed a call and considered being a sister. Then, when I got a few years older and noticed that life offered lots of fun, boys, jobs, travel and boys - I tucked away the echoes of the call until late in high school. Again I heard it and could no longer ignore it or resist it and took the dare. "One distinctive, unforgettable moment comes when you answer the call. But there will be other moments that will come again and again, marking your way and giving you the assurance that the God who called still calls."

Authors have reflected that God's call begins with an idea in our mind, and then it is often triggered by some significant event. It can be clear and focused or blurry-clear. Whatever the clarity, it gets our attention. It weaves its way in and through our consciousness, and it is in our quieting, reflecting and noticing that the call is heard in the depths of our souls and the vibrations of its urgency move us to decide, to respond and to risk.

So how do we keep our call fresh?

We need to live daily with gratitude so as to keep our call fresh, clear and strong. That way, no matter how much we resist, procrastinate, hesitate or reject God's call, it will always be there. God truly cares about us deeply; we are invited to be open to the form of the call, which will evolve again and again. For then we will eventually discover that there is no expiration date to our call. God will continue to seek us out, for call "lingers until we name it, and it never completely goes away."