Calling all Creatives: The Power of Resonance
Eric Liddell was an Olympic athlete and runner at the 1924 Olympics. Although he was a hero in Great Britain, his story was relatively unknown until the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, which tells of his withdrawal from the 100-meter dash (his best event) because it fell on a Sunday. He instead went for the 400-meter run… where he won the gold medal.
But Liddell wasn’t just a passionate, dedicated runner. He was also training to be a missionary in China, a calling he felt from the LORD. Indeed, Liddell would soon move to China and minister there, eventually dying during the Japanese occupation of China during World War II.
There’s a famous line in the movie, one he never actually said (as far as we know) but that summarizes his life so well. People were asking why he would run when he had so much talent, drive, and zeal for missionary service. Liddell’s response in the movie was this: “God made me fast. And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”
What has God made you good at? Where in life do you feel God’s presence?
In the West, we often find our meaning in the things that we DO. What we produce, what makes us a profit. So we discuss our callings in terms of:
Profession—called to be a minister, a doctor, a missionary, an entrepreneur.
Position—mother or father, school principal or president, etc.
Production—what we make, what we accomplish, what we achieve.
So often our “calling” becomes utilitarian—what do we accomplish from what we feel called to do?
Yet I want to flip the script from PRODUCTIVITY to DELIGHT. What are some of the things you do that bring you joy?
I want you to fill this in for yourself: God made me ___________________. And when I ________________, I feel his pleasure.
It could be anything—sharing the Gospel through words; serving at the soup kitchen; writing beautiful music; taking in foster kids; teaching any age; building with Legos; using accounting and business analytics to helping companies, non-profits, or individuals succeed; learning a new language to learn and grow; or learning a new language to make others feel welcome…
Our callings are unique because God has made each of us uniquely. Fearfully and wonderfully made can extend to the very things that we bring into the world for God’s pleasure.
I am a wholly average runner—not fast, not slow, right in the middle of the pack—which gives me a lot of time to talk to the people I am running with. I have had incredible, deep conversations about life, parenting, hope, dreams, and faith on runs with people I only recently met. Others I know have utilized writing groups, Scout camping trips, historical reenactments, and other outlets as avenues to experience true joy and find faithful purpose and meaning.
In many ways, it comes down to resonance. Resonance is a phenomenon that occurs when an object or system is subjected to an external force or vibration that matches its natural frequency. When we find just the right frequency, everything starts to hum.
Ben Rector is a musician and songwriter who is also a Christian and has profound faith. Once, in discussing his songwriting, he simply stated, “I hope that I am saying to fans through my music… honestly, you know when you eat a really delicious meal or you go on a really wonderful hike… I hope I bring just a little bit of that to people. I hope it is a well-made enough thing with enough heart behind it that they can just relax for a minute and appreciate a beautiful thing, that it resonates with them in that way.”[1]
We often think about life in terms of what we DO or what we accomplish. Instead, we should realign our thinking to the idea of resonance… What are the things that bring me meaning and bring God joy? How can these things transform the situation around me, even if it is just transforming me? Theologian Frederick Buechner calls this “vocation,” your calling, and he defines it as the place where “your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”[2] Quite possibly those things that make you resonate—even if you are not great at them—might just be the outlet or avenue where God needs you to work.
So may you (and God) find delight and resonance in your life.
1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqHztCpDdT4; Last accessed November 11, 2024.
2. Frederick Buechner, Wishful Thinking: The Seeker’s ABCs, 119. The exact quote is, “The place God calls you to is the place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”
