The Calling of Charism
A few months ago at a women’s group, the subject of charism was brought up. I’d heard the term before, but only in the context of religious orders—priests and nuns. I had never thought about what it might mean to discern my own personal charism. A charism is a spiritual gift—a special ability or empowerment—given to every Christian by the Holy Spirit to enable us to be a powerful channel of God’s love and redeeming presence in the World (CCC, 2003). There are all sorts of charisms. Everything from administration to leadership to healing. The list is long!
We can use three signs to identify what ours might be. I got this language from this site, which I found really helpful!
An unmistakable inner experience of peace, energy and joy when you are using the gift. It energizes you!
Unusually effective and successful results in what you are trying to accomplish
Other people’s direct or indirect recognition of the gift’s presence
I started reflecting on what in my own life—what skills, abilities, or activities—have made those signs manifest. Two stood out right away: craftsmanship and music. These are gifts that fill me with energy and surround me in peace. Other people notice and comment on them often. And in these areas, I have experienced “success.”
No brainer. “Yeah, I’m creative,” I thought. “So what?”
But, there’s another important aspect of charism. And this is the part that really convicts me: A charism is to be used in charity or service to build up the Church (CCC, 2003).
A charism is a gift meant to be shared. A charism is a gift to us, meant to be shared by us.
This simple idea felt like a punch to the gut. For the past few years, I’ve struggled to find the right “fit” for my creative business. I’ve seen little flowerings of something good, but I used to have an experience of wholeness in what I was doing—and I have not had that in a long time. The notion of charism helps me see why. For too long now, I've been trying to do more, rather than give more. Trying to solve rather than serve.
All this to say: I’m embracing a new outlook this year.
An outlook that includes…
more curiosity than caution
more joy than judgement
more faith than fear
I don’t think it’ll be all sunshine and roses. For me, even writing and posting this blog post requires a lot of courage! But I know life is short, and there’s no time like the present to forge ahead in faith, right? Right.
Alright. Okay. That’s that. Do you know what your charisms might be? How are you going to use them this year? Let me know in the comments or send me a message on Instagram @tarawrightillustration.
I’ve already seen the fruits of being more open to sharing my gifts with others. I met Wayne at my favorite coffee shop. He was playing some old jazz standards—some that I knew! Instead of being sheepish, I started to sing with him. Since that day, we’ve become friends and even performed a few gigs together (you should have seen us bring the house down at the nursing-home)! Enjoy this post-Christmas Christmas Song.