Vocation Vacation By S. Janet Gildea –

Summertime … and the livin’ is easy … fish are jumpin’… and the cotton is high …” So begins the latest issue of E-Voc, the electronic newsletter from the Vocation Team of the Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati for single women wondering what new thing God is calling forth in their lives.

“Summertime … and the livin’ is easy … fish are jumpin’… and the cotton is high …” So goes the song from Porgy and Bess, the opera by George Gershwin. The lazy flow of the lyrics carries you into a peaceful place … “so hush, little baby, don’ you cry…” You can almost feel the heat and humidity of “Summertime,” slowing you down and inviting you to be still. Let go of the hot mess of activity and be attentive for the little breeze of the Spirit that waits to blow across your life.

Vacation days and summer holidays offer a break in the action, allowing you to shed the routine of ordinary time. Visiting new places, being amazed at natural wonders, enjoying foods that are synonymous with summer, indulging yourself with extra rest and novels saved for beach reading, all of this summer fun can be an occasion for the breakthrough of God in your life! But will you take notice?

A tiny discipline for the summer months can help you tune-in to the times God is visiting you. Before you make your first move out of the bed, sit for a moment and take a breath as your feet touch the floor. Be conscious, awake, alert, aware of the gift of the new day. Then pray a simple phrase of your own choosing – something easy to remember like, “Let me see You more clearly, love You more dearly, follow You more nearly today.” That’s it. You have voiced your intention to live the day open to God’s call. Let the vocation vacation begin!

Read the entire issue July E-voc 2015