you are supposed to be.
A calling is what you have to give. A career is about what you receive. Although you may be thankful for the many benefits, income, and accolades that accompany the pursuit of your calling, a calling is about the opportunity to do what you are destined to do. It is about sharing that which God has given you.
I heard a minister give one of the best definitions of a calling. He said that a calling is “a sincere sense of ought, that something ought to be done and that I ought to do it.” It is the one thing that you just have to do. What is it that you wish to share with the world? The world is waiting for what only you have to give — the song, the book, the business.
God is always speaking and inviting us to accept our calling. It begins with our decision to do it, to not settle for anything less than what we are called to do. When we take the first step, God will begin to open doors. And when we dare to choose our calling, we will find our career.
James C. Best
Age: 36
Title: Production artist/art director,
The New York Times Co.
Education: B.F.A., Cooper Union
Career: Graphic artist
Calling: Creative artist
“My purpose is to create good works of spiritually based art that represent African Americans — our community, our children, our experience,” says Best, whose credits include artwork commissioned for the stained glass window in the celestial gallery of Brooklyn’s St. Philip’s Episcopal Church for its 100th anniversary. “My career as a graphic artist and my calling as a creative artist really complement each other. The former provides me with the structure, corporate exposure, and business skills to execute the latter and make the most of my gift.”
Thomas W. Demerritte
Age: 45
Title: President and CEO,
Tavette Entertainment Group
Education: B.S., M.S., Florida State University
Career: Government administrator
Calling: Musician, song writer, and producer
“Music has always been my calling,” says Demerritte, who launched his music production company, Tavette (named for him and his late wife, Evette, who died of lupus), in 1999. Demerritte, who spent 20 years working for Miami-Dade County, produces and plays a variety of instruments, including keyboards, guitar, bass, and drums. “My career was about me trying to do the right thing, as a husband and father, to provide for my family. But all along the way, my wife always recognized that I am a musician. She used to tease me by saying that she was shopping for a gown to wear to accompany me to the Grammy Awards.”
The Rev. Paula McGee
Age: 40
Title: Minister & President of
Paula McGee Ministries
Education: B.A., University of Michigan;
M.Div., Interdenominational Theological Center; M.A., Vanderbilt University
Former Career: Basketball player
Calling: Preacher
“I was a basketball player, and I was very good at it, but it wasn’t my calling; it was only my career,” says McGee. A member of the University of Southern California’s back-to-back championship teams in 1983 and 1984, she went on to play professionally for the Women’s American Basketball Association and