The Rev. Paula Mcgee first came to national attention as a member of the University of Southern California’s national championship basketball team. After she and twin sister Pamela led Flint, Michigan’s Northern High School to a pair of state championships, they joined a college team anchored by Cheryl Miller to win back-to-back NCAA titles in 1983 and 1984. After college, McGee pursued a professional basketball career that included a tryout with the Harlem Globetrotters, a season with the Dallas Diamonds of the Women’s American Basketball Association, and five seasons for teams in Italy and Spain, where she learned both Spanish and Italian.
It was a fantastic career, but it was just that — a career. McGee knew that it was not her life’s calling. She ended her basketball career to become a preacher and is now an ordained minister, motivational speaker, and life coach who is “inspiring people of all ages to be their best.” A former dean of chapel at Fisk University, she is also president of Paula McGee Ministries, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring people “to recognize, accept, and fulfill their call to greatness.”
Recognizing her calling, McGee says, was key to her realizing the success that transcends job titles and career changes. In this shaky environment of layoffs, salary freezes, and overworked, disillusioned downsizing survivors, finding a sense of purpose and an answer to the question, “What am I doing here?” has become of urgent importance to many professionals. McGee sheds light on why it is important to accept the challenge of discerning — and responding to — your calling.
IN HER OWN WORDS
As children we are bombarded with the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” We are not only expected to answer this question with clarity, we are also encouraged to choose a career. And there are hundreds of books, tapes, and workshops to guide us. Our goal, however, should not be to choose a career, but to choose our calling. If we choose our calling, we will find our career.
Your vocation or calling is your purpose in life — your gift to the world. As the saying goes, “Find a job that you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” People who choose a career, instead of their calling, wake up regretting that they have to go to work; they hate facing another day. But if you find your calling and pursue it, life will become an adventure.
Many of us have been working at our careers for so long that we are numb. We go from appointment to appointment and have overbooked days that are full, yet empty of passion and joy. Days and years go by, and still we find ourselves unfulfilled. We climb the corporate ladder and, after many years of sacrifice and long hours, wonder if it’s worth it. Many of us feel empty and live lives void of passion.
oo Your passion directs you to your calling. Your passion is the beacon of light, no matter how faint, that will lead you to your calling. The search may take some time. You must be open to accept that God has something just for you — a divine purpose. When you are confident that your life has a purpose, you will be receptive to your calling.
One reason many of us do not know what we are called to do is that we are taught that only a priest or a minister is called. Each of us, however, has a calling. God does not discriminate. We must expand our understanding of being called to reach outside the walls of the church, cathedral, or synagogue. God’s invitation is extended to all.
God has something for each of us to do; there is no shortage of work. No task or job is too big or too small. We must resist the tendency to put God in one of our boxes and limit the many possibilities. When the pupil is ready, the teacher will come. When we are open, we begin to hear the divine whisper of God leading and directing us or, more specifically, calling us.
When I am working with people, the first question I ask is, “Who are you?” I ask them to complete an “I am” sentence. I insist that they be specific. “I am a lawyer.” “I am a doctor.” “I am a homemaker.” I ask them to answer by sharing who they are and not just what they do. You may be a professor — that’s your career. That does not necessarily mean, however, that’s who you are. Your calling may be as a writer or researcher. Being a college professor simply affords you the opportunity to write or do research. It is important to not only talk about what you do, but to be specific and identify that which speaks to your spirit. I was a basketball player, and I was very good at it, but it wasn’t my calling; it was only my career. If you would have asked me if basketball was my calling, my reply would have been, “No, this is what I do, not who I am.”
oo A calling is who you are. A career is what you do. There are a lot of people who write because their job requires it. But they are not writers, even if they spend the majority of their time writing. They would never say, “I am a writer.” If writing is your calling, however, then you readily identify with “I am a writer.” Some people teach as a career and then there are those teachers who are called to teach. Their career and job title may be corporate trainer, coach, or counselor. Their calling, that which resonates with their spirit, is “teacher.”
Many of us are unable to make the “I am” statement because we are not the subject of our own story. We are living out scripts written for us by other people. For years I could not say, “I am a preacher.” Fear always surfaced when I tried to say it. I was afraid of others’ responses. I was afraid of the commitment of my words. It was only after a few years of preaching and facing my own fears that I could confidently say, “I am a preacher.” Now I am settled in my “I am” statement. Each day I continue to learn what that means.
A calling is 24 — 7 — 365. A career is 9 — 5. When you are called to do something, however, time is immaterial. You do it whenever you can because you love it. If you are an artist who is called, you feel compelled to capture an image on canvas whenever you are moved or inspired. No schedule or time clock is able to harness your desire, creativity, and passion. Called teachers are compelled to teach whether it is during the school day or not. When you are called, your work cannot be measured by a 9-to-5 schedule.
A calling is what you would do for free. A career is what they have to pay you to do. Sometimes we miss our calling because we think that we can’t make money doing it. We immediately assume that it is just a hobby or a pastime. Many of the services and things that we give away might be exactly what we are being called to do. The wonderful thing about America is that you can make a living doing almost anything.
On the other hand, there are some of us who have not pursued
our calling because we think that if we earn money by using our gift or talent, the gift will become contaminated or cursed. We find ourselves captive to old teachings that say, “Money is the root of all evil.” We buy into the notion that there is glory in suffering. We are the martyrs and suffering artists. Let me be perfectly clear: Just because you would do what you are called to do for free doesn’t mean you have to! The fact that you would do it for free is just an indicator of your passion and love for it. You must take a balanced approach to money when it comes to recognizing your calling.Money and fame should never be the primary factor in determining your calling. Wealth and fame may be the result of pursuing your calling, but they should never be the primary focus. No amount of money or fame can equal the peace and sense of wholeness that come from doing what you are called to do. If your focus is fame and money, fame and money will control your life. Focus
on your gifts and talents and listen for the quiet, still voice. Money and the noise associated with the pursuit of fame make it difficult to hear the divine whisper. Understand that if you honor the calling in your life and follow God’s lead, you will arrive where you need to be. Whether that means wealth and fame — or not — you will be where 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 also played in Europe. “For years I could not say, ‘I am a preacher.’ Fear always surfaced when I tried to say it. I was afraid of others’ responses. I was afraid of the commitment of my words. It was only after a few years of preaching and facing my own fears that I could confidently say, ‘I am a preacher.'”