Janurary 2005 
A Constant Calling
Early one morning, after the biggest blizzard (so far) of the season, I searched the bookshelf for a bit of inspiration for the day ahead, and chanced, again, upon Dag Hammarskjold’s Markings . There it was on page 205, a reflection too beautiful and too deep to shorten. It read:
“ I don’t know Who – or what – put the question. I don’t know when it was put. I don’t even remember answering. But at some moment, I did answer Yes to Someone – or Something – and from that hour I was certain that existence is meaningful and that, therefore, my life, in self-surrender, had a goal. From that moment I have known what it means ‘ not to look back,’ and ‘to take no thought of the morrow.’”
I am impressed with the fact that Hammarskjold mentions that it is in self-surrender that our lives have a goal. I also think of my long-time close friend who was fond of saying that a vocation (no matter what that might be) is a constant calling, and not just a one-time event. The calling is there every day.
Robert Frost talks about The Road Not Taken . Perhaps, it would be better to meditate on the road that, indeed, was taken. Strange as it may seem, we may find that it was not we who chose the road, but God. All along, Another has been arranging different events, pleasant and unpleasant, to form the road that would be the best for us and which would, ultimately, bring us deep peace and meaning. Looking back, we may come to see that this kindness on the part of God was one of our greatest gifts.
There is no looking back, even if we want to, and there is no real need to worry about the morrow. The only important thing is the road before us.
Sister Mary Jo Loebig, O.C.D.