Religion

Preface

Oa October 19, 200;, we sent the manuscript of this anthology to the pub- lisher. This date was also the twentieth birthday of our twin son an d daugh- 1cr. As second·)tar students in a liberal arts college, they were immersed that fall semester in a wide range of academic and non-academic pursuits, Yet they were also beginning to tire of the excess of op tions and to ponder more senously than ever before the choices that will give shape and focus to what th ey do and become in the years after college. As of this writing, they do not )'t know (orat least have t Id ) h . A th . no yet to us w at they hope to do to earn a liv- ing. t esameume ft · •1 . has d· , d 'a er a sim1 ar period of ques tioning, their older sister

iscm ere and embraced h II . we write ho h . . er ca mg as a writer and teacher of poetry. As , wever,s rns11Use h' , f The com .

1 arc mg w r ull-tim e employment.

parauve y prolong d I adults to fmd th . . e strugg es of these and many oth er young eirwaymandrh h h 10 earn a living are . roug t e process offiguring out what to do

an important . f acienzes thtir lives . 1

sign ° our times, fo r the fluidity that char- Id . is aso beco . . . 0 er Amencans. In th· mmg mcreasmgly com mon in th e lives of

people f II ts age of rapid ec • . 0 a ages and soc' 1 1 onom1c, social, and cultural change,

unempl " casses can d f oymen, as well as h 'an o ten do, experience unexpected mem Th ot er forms f a

1 •• • us many peopletod O personal or geograph ic displace· ivmg and h ay are aslci h d

1 ~ h w at their wo rk h ng ar questions abou t how to make

lempo e ave composed this bas ~o do with their identity. ra nes but also for the 00 nor only for our child ren and their con·

many other h s w o are asking these questions

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Preface

duri ng this time of rapid social, cultural , and economic change. Al~hough contemporary people bring special urgency to this set of quesuons, uman beings have been asking them - and offering answers - for many centu· · s and some have probed the heart of what gives a human life its shape,

~:~ning, and significance . We have tried to capture in _ this book som_e 0

:

the wisdom that has found its way into words, by gathering texts from liter ature, philosophy, and everyday life that we believe may help readers to po nder these questions and to answer them well . . .

A few years ago the leaders of Lilly Endowment, a private fa mily fou nda· tion in Indianapolis, noted this set of concerns and resolved to encourage stu· dents, faculty, and staff members in higher education to consider more deeply the insights inherent in the concept of voo,tion, a theological idea that also en· joys wide public use. The result was the Program for the Theological Explora· tion of Vocation (PTEV), which has given rise to exciting experiments at scores of colleges and universities in the United States and Canada. Leading Lives Thot Matter owes its origin to the new and vital interest in vocation sparked by PTEV but now evident far beyond its boundaries. In response to requests for material that could be used in campus senings as well as among parents and alums, Craig Dykstra and Chris Coble of the Lilly Endowment and Kim Maphis Early, coordinator of PTEV, invited the two of us and Professor William C. Placher of Wabash College to develop two complementary anthologies. Callings: Twenry Centuries of Christion Wisdom obout Voeation, edited by Placher and published in the fall of 2005, includes theological texts that trace the development of the Christian idea of vocation over two millennia of history. Living Lives That Motter, the present volume, looks beyond the idea of vocation per se, includes texts from a wider range of fields , and takes its organization from contemporary concerns rather than historical sequence. Each of th e two books can stand alone, but we hope many readers ,viii choose to read them both. Study guides fo r these books, as well as many oth er resources designed to fo ster theological refl ect ion on vocation , are available for free download at www.ptev.org.

While compiling this anth ology we have been reminded aga in and aga in that the endeavor to understand "lives that matter," like the endeavor to live them, is a communal venture, requ iring at every point many voices. hands , hea rts, and minds. We are indebted to all those who have aided us in the preparati on of Leading Lives That Matt er. From the begi nn ing, Kim Maphis Ea rly, Chris Coble, and Craig Dykstra provid ed generou s encouragemen t, support , and counsel. Special thanks to Bill Placher, who has been a wise counselor and a good friend th roughout the process. Bill also admi nis tered th e Lilly Endowment grant that supported this wo rk.

Dur ing the spring of 2005 in Christ Coll ege, the hono rs college of

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Preface

Valparaiso University, the students in Mark's seminar "What Makes a Life Significant?" helped to discover and shape some of the texts and questions that appear in this book. Special thanks therefore go to Sarah Benczik, Jeffrey Biebighauser, Julia Colbert, Katherine Hovsepian, Mark Koschmann, Nicole Kranich, Thomas Piche!, Jason Reinking, Amanda Schappler, Kendra Schmidt, Theodore Schultz, Jamie Stewart, and Joy Woellhart.

In August of 2005, the following students from Valparaiso University, St. Olaf College, Saint John's University, and the College of Saint Benedict re- viewed a draft of part of the manuscript: Jeffrey Biebighauser, Hannah Bolt, Shaina Crotteau, Ben Durheim, Stephanie Mueller, Mike Reading, Martha Schwehn, Krista Senden, and Sarah Werner. Thanks to their criticisms, many of the introductions to sections and to specific texts were shortened and improved.

Many colleagues have suggested texts for inclusion and offered helpful comments on the shape of this anthology, including John Barbour, Kathleen Sprows Cummings, Sara Danger, John Feaster, Susan Felch, Darrell Jodock, Amy Kass , DeAne Lagerquist, and Dan McAdams. We benefited from chal- lenging conversation about the issues explored here in sessions, at meals, and on the porches and trails of Holden Village. Our colleagues at the Collegeville Institute for Ecumenical and Cultural Studies and its director, Don Ottenhoff, asked hard questions and provided good company as we were finishing the work. The librarians at Valparaiso University, Saint John's University, and the College of Saint Benedict were patient and helpful. We are especially grateful for the diligence and perseverance of those who helped us with permissions and manuscript preparation: Doretta Kurzinski, Leslie Kurzinski, Sister Dolores Schuh, CHM, and Sarah Werner.

John Steven Paul, for many years chair of the Valparaiso University Theater Department and now the Program Director of the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts, and Margaret Franson, Associate Dean of Christ College, are remarkable educators who work daily to help others discern what they should do and who they should be . They are also godparents to one of our children, generous friends and guides to all three, and dear and faithful friends to the two of us . They lead lives that matter to us, to our children, to their colleagues and to hundreds of students and alumni of Valparaiso University. We dedicate this book to them with grati- tude and affection.

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MARK R. SCHWEHN DOROTHY C. BASS