Book Review: “Getting a Life” by Renée M. LaReau

Vocation and the discernment of vocation are tricky topics to write about,
mainly because they are part of our everyday lives.  If you’ve ever
pondered a decision about what college to attend, type of person to date, or job
to take, then you have some sense of the work it takes for discernment. 
What LaReau does so well in her book is bring to light the everyday experiences
of discernment by sharing personal, oftentimes humorous, reflections on
life.  People in their twenties and thirties can easily identify with her
story and get ideas to support their own self-discovery.

The chapter titles show the practicality of this book: Becoming You,
Discernment: Asking the Big Question, and Living to Work, Working to Live; plus
LaReau’s words have an ability to make you feel comfortable in your own
skin.  She doesn’t approach the topic as an expert, although she likely
could be considered one as the head of Notre Dame’s Vocation Initiative, but
simply as another twenty-something Christian.  And she is not trying to
convince her readers to join the ranks of the ordained vocations, rather she
writes:

I’ve noticed a certain knee-jerk reaction I have when I’m sitting in
church. This reaction is usually stirred up after the homily, when somebody
reads the petitions and then it comes time for people to voice their own
prayer intentions.  Inevitably someone prays for an increase in
vocations.  This particular petition does not sit very well with me
anymore.  What I wish people would pray for (and maybe at some point I’ll
have the guts to voice this myself) is for an increased awareness of all our
vocations.

A chapter particularly well written is titled, Community Matters.  So
many of us picture discernment as a lonely enterprise, but LaReau, coming out of
a Trinitarian mindset, emphasizes the need of others during discernment and that
the point of vocation is not self-fulfillment but finding a place where we can
help fulfill the needs of others.  This is possibly the most challenging
call LaReau poses to her readers, “Community calls us beyond the relationships
that are natural, easy, comfortable to maintain… Community requires us to work
for people other than ourselves, to live for people other than ourselves.”

“Getting a Life: How to Find Your True Vocation” is an easy and enjoyable
read.  I found myself reading through a chapter every evening or two before
I went to bed.  Unfortunately, LaReau’s words were challenging enough to
keep me awake thinking about them, so I started reading during the morning
instead.  (I finally got some sleep!) As she helps her readers discover
their “vocations that already exist,” she writes with one foot in her personal
experience and the other one in the tradition of the Church – never getting too
far away from either – and always making her readers more aware of the Spirit at
work.

By Adam Setmeyer

Adam Setmeyer is a graduate student at Catholic Theological Union in
Chicago pursuing Master of Arts and Master of Divinity degrees.  After
working as a youth minister for several years, he has decided to attend classes
full-time.  Adam is married and lives in suburban Chicago.