This Saturday I spent most of my day, 8:30a.m.–3:00p.m., at 14th Street Christian Reformed Church. On a whim maybe a month ago I decided to register for this retreat hosted my a group on campus, Klesis.
Klesis is the Greek word for calling which is what this group focuses on. It’s peer/faculty mentorship program considering whether grad school is for you, and exploring vocation and calling from a Christian perspective.
They gave those attending a book with a couple chapters out of it to read. A lot of what Klesis does in general is read a book, related to faith and calling, together throughout the semester and discuss it.
The retreat consisted of breakfast and lunch, a devotional, discussion of the assigned reading, a keynote talk by Dr. Fashun, conductor of Hope’s orchestra, talking with members of Klesis and what they do, and one of the senior Klesis members closed with prayer.
I attended this because I don’t know what I’m doing. So it was cool for me to get to talk with some juniors and seniors who still don’t know exactly what they are doing but are actively pursuing the idea of calling and vocation and what that is for them alongside both a peer and a faculty mentor.
It was intriguing to sit and take in the discussion of concepts like primary calling vs. secondary calling, what vocation really is, how we can go out and be a change within our culture, and so many other items the book brought up. Dr. Fashun talked through his story, how he got to where he is and how he made decisions to follow his calling along the way.
At the end of it I was glad I had decided to still attend on a sunny Saturday with a lot on my to-do list. The retreat was a lot more than just free food and listening to people talk. It was an opportunity to learn more about the origin of work and how we are called to do it within our society, what our primary calling truly is, and many other ideas that I am and will continue to think about.
Thanks for reading!
–Erin
Feel free to follow me on Twitter (@HopeErin18) or Instagram (@e_delaney333) for lots of pictures and some thoughts on life at Hope through my eyes. If you have any questions or comments you can contact me at erin.hoolahan@hope.edu.