{"id":810,"date":"2013-09-01T01:16:06","date_gmt":"2013-09-01T01:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=810"},"modified":"2013-08-21T18:29:26","modified_gmt":"2013-08-21T18:29:26","slug":"chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html","title":{"rendered":"Chronic Illness: What Is Your Vocation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Maureen<\/a>)n this Labor Day weekend, as we relax and unwind, we might inevitably think about the work that we do and wonder what in the world it has to do with our overall, spiritual purpose in life. This might be a fairly straightforward thing to do if you have a “regular” job, one that, perhaps, takes advantage of your training, education, and skills, and brings you great fulfillment.<\/p>\n

But if you have chronic illness or pain and cannot work outside the home, or cannot hold down even a home-based job, finding vocation within daily life can be much more difficult.<\/p>\n

I remember in the first days surrounding my diagnosis of lupus, and the orders from my doctors to stop working immediately, reaching out to everyone I knew and asking them about possible jobs I could have that would be doable given my catastrophic health situation. Of course, there was no way I could take any of them, but I was filled with great anxiety at the thought that I’d be unproductive for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

As lupus got worse, and\u00a0I was farther from the working world, however, I began to realize that illness, and a faith-centered life with and inspite of it, is a very valid vocation. This was further validated by several talks given by the late Pope John Paul II, who remained pope although he was debilitated from Parkinson’s.<\/p>\n

When we consider our illness and pain as a vocation, then we can move ahead to being productive and fulfilled. We can help others navigate the maze of feelings and practical matters surrounding a new and horrible diagnosis. We can communicate to others about our illness and what it means to us and society – and also clearly define the best way to help.<\/p>\n

Illness as vocation also helps us connect the struggles we endure with God’s love for us; yes, we have terrible days of pain, but we also have very good days, where we make progress or receive and give kindness. Days where we make a difference.<\/p>\n

Within the confines of chronic illness, it’s so easy to become gloomy and think that life is only going on “out there,” apart from us, and that we have nothing to give an nothing to gain from our desperate condition.<\/p>\n

But we have much to give and gain, really, if we turn the tables on sadness and hopelessness and seek our vocation right where we are. Here. Now. With all of our brokenness and all of our gifts.<\/p>\n

Then we can experience calm, gain strength, and really honor and benefit from the very special gift we all have: Life<\/p>\n

Blessings for the day,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

)n this Labor Day weekend, as we relax and unwind, we might inevitably think about the work that we do and wonder what in the world it has to do with our overall, spiritual purpose in life. This might be a fairly straightforward thing to do if you have a “regular” job, one that, perhaps,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,43,4,383,379],"tags":[697,19,701,695,30,699,696,698,700],"class_list":["post-810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","category-words-of-encouragemnent-and-info-for-all","category-heart-health","category-lupus-2","tag-chronic-illness-and-vocation","tag-illness","tag-jobs","tag-labor-day","tag-pain","tag-productivity","tag-vocation","tag-what-am-i-here-for","tag-working"],"yoast_head":"\nChronic Illness: What Is Your Vocation? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chronic Illness: What Is Your Vocation? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\")n this Labor Day weekend, as we relax and unwind, we might inevitably think about the work that we do and wonder what in the world it has to do with our overall, spiritual purpose in life. This might be a fairly straightforward thing to do if you have a “regular” job, one that, perhaps,…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-09-01T01:16:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-08-21T18:29:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic1-246x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mpratt\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Chronic Illness: What Is Your Vocation? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Chronic Illness: What Is Your Vocation? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","og_description":")n this Labor Day weekend, as we relax and unwind, we might inevitably think about the work that we do and wonder what in the world it has to do with our overall, spiritual purpose in life. This might be a fairly straightforward thing to do if you have a “regular” job, one that, perhaps,…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html","og_site_name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","article_published_time":"2013-09-01T01:16:06+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-08-21T18:29:26+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic1-246x300.jpg"}],"author":"mpratt","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html","name":"Chronic Illness: What Is Your Vocation? - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic1-246x300.jpg","datePublished":"2013-09-01T01:16:06+00:00","dateModified":"2013-08-21T18:29:26+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic1-246x300.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/files\/2013\/05\/Maureen-Pratt-Author-Pic1-246x300.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2013\/09\/chronic-illness-what-is-your-vocation.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Chronic Illness: What Is Your Vocation?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/","name":"Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt","description":"Beliefnet Voices","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/#\/schema\/person\/b47fd8e9d9cc9750d5779f75b8669a32","name":"mpratt","description":"Several years ago, Maureen Pratt earned her Master of Fine Arts in Theater Arts\/Playwriting from UCLA's School of Theater, FIlm and Television. She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=810"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":813,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/810\/revisions\/813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}