What is a Calling?

The dictionary provides the following definition:

call·ing (kôlng)n.
1. An inner urge or a strong impulse, especially one believed to be divinely inspired to accept the Gospels as truth and Jesus as one's personal savior.
2. An occupation, profession, or career.
(with thanks to http://www.thefreedictionary.com)

The Church of England, through their "call waiting" initiative defines it in the following article:

"God calls everyone who loves him into some kind of service. The primary calling of all Christians is to represent Christ in the world. But service can take many forms, so where is God calling you?

Everyone is called to an ever-deeper relationship with God and with each other. For some people, service may mean reflecting God’s love to others—wherever they are and whatever they do in life. For most Christians it will involve undertaking a variety of tasks and acts of service in their local church. For some, the calling is more particularly ‘vocational’ and involves being authorised by the Church to minister in a public capacity."
(with thanks to http://www.callwaiting.org.uk/have-vocation.aspx)

Whilst the CofE "Calling" course defines it as: discovering the meaning of Christian vocation in individual life and work

and the Archbishop of Canterbury writes:
"The letters of St Paul often tell us about all the gifts the Church needs in order for it to do its work and to be itself. Everyone has something Jesus Christ has given them which has to be shared with the whole community. Among these gifts is a cluster of things that all have to do with taking some kind of responsibility for the Church’s growth and the Church’s direction - the apostle, the prophet, the teacher, and so on. And while all sorts of different people may exercise these gifts in various ways, the Church has always organized itself on the basis that it needs some visible focus for this kind of ministry."
(with thanks to http://www.cofe.anglican.org/lifeevents/ministry/ministryinthecofe/)

but that's just definitions. in the next post I will share the process through which I eventually agreed I was being called.