The word 'calling' is interesting. It can be used as an abstract noun, a gerund-participle noun or a present participle verb.

As a present participle, the word 'calling' refers commonly to the act of a person crying out to something. It is perhaps more nuanced than 'crying out'. So it includes shouting out, asking, requesting, commanding, announcing, communicating et cetera. And with the advent of technology, it also refers to the act of 'dialing' - perhaps over a phone, or in more recent times, a virtual phone call over the Internet through interfaces like Skype.

As a gerund-participle noun, it would simply be the noun version of the present participle. For example, "John's calling out to Peter was very loud!" The word in that sentence is a gerund-participle noun, as opposed to the same word in this sentence : "John is calling out to Peter". The English language is cleanly pragmatic and efficient in that sense - perhaps too pragmatic, as against other more nuanced languages.

All these linguistic categorisations probably mean nothing to you, nor add any value to you. It probably does not to me either, perhaps except for pretty pedantry. But let us take a closer look to the word as an abstract noun and we may just find something interesting.

As an abstract noun, the word has one general meaning according to Oxford American Dictionary: "A strong urge toward a particular way of life or career; a vocation; or a profession or occupation."

Before you go, "Oh yeah I knew that, what's new," take a step back and consider. The word 'calling' obviously has its root word in 'call'. And call, on first blush, has little to do with vocation, nor 'urge toward a way of life'. Where on earth did this alternative meaning come from then?

So I did my pseudo-pedantic research and guess what I found? This meaning did not come from earth in the first place! And again, before you go, "Oh yeah I knew that too - right from the first word of this (waste-of-time) article!" I would like to have you consider before you read on, what you think the original context of this alternative usage might be.

The word has its origin in the late Old English word ceallian, which came from Old Norse kalla, which probably means to 'summon loudly', or 'cry loudly'. We are unclear about the exact appearance of it in Old English, but as a matter of (again) pedantic pleasantry, Old English developed from since the Anglo-Saxon migrations in the 5th century, to the Norman Conquest of 1066.

And yet the word 'calling' in the abstract noun sense came about only in the 1400s, in the context of 'spiritual calling'. It came about from the Latin word, vocationem (a calling), from vocatus (to call). Apparently, its usage as a sense of one's occupation or profession was only apparent in the 1500s.

From whence did this latter notion come about? When one thinks of the 15th to 16th centuries, there probably is one significant thing that comes to mind : the Reformation. Martin Luther lived from 1483-1546; John Calvin, 1509-1564. You get the drift.

It seems that the notion of calling as a spiritual vocation arose and was emphasized upon in the early Protestant movement. Arguably, Martin Luther believed that every Christian must fulfill his God-given duty or task in every day life - and those tasks are his calling[1]. Further than that, John Calvin suggests that there is a distinction between a general calling to serve God, and a specific calling to a particular vocation[2]. However tempting it may be, I have decided to refrain from going into a quasi-theological discussion on whether such a distinction is indeed accurate, or a discussion on weighing the two views against each other.

Instead, I have decided to search God's Word, in English Standard Version for the abstract noun use of calling (with the aid of Biblegateway.com ah, praise God for the wonders of technology). I expected an overload of search results that would push (even) my Mac into overdrive and subsequently spontaneous combustion. No such luck. After digging through 38 results, only seven[3] of those are abstract nouns emerge; the other 31 are present-participle verbs and gerund-participles. All seven appear in the epistles. All seven do not refer particularly to any vocation. Instead, it appears that calling is often used to refer to a calling to salvation (perhaps, arguably, in the sense of election[4]), i.e., of having been called out of darkness into light[5].

Yet, it is not easy to see why calling has become almost synonymous with vocation. After all, almost every personality we read about in the Bible was called by God, in the sense, summoned or 'appointed' - think Abraham, Noah, Moses, Samuel, David, Elijah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and all the apostles, amongst others. And with that, we have come full circle to the Old Norse word kalla (summon loudly).

In the modern context, the word has become used extensively to refer to an inclination to a profession. Two recent Public Service advertisements came to mind immediately - the first was Ministry of Education's advertisement for the teaching profession (fulfill your calling), and the second was the Air Force (a higher calling), which I thought was pretty cool. Yet I was perturbed by it. Perhaps you can blame me for being a linguistic-exclusive-pedant, but when I saw those ads, the tiny voice in me protested, "but you can not say it is a calling if it ain't from God!" Perhaps this trend reflects the paradigm of the age - the self-will; the inner-calling, etc.

Notwithstanding all of the above, I would like to just make known (again, if it isn't already obvious to you) that this entire piece is mere (arguably) pleasant pedantry - it may have no value to you, nor does it not have any point, or moral. But if it did, as it did for me (I just can't put a finger on what specifically), then I thank God. For the rest of us, I hope this pedantry has at least given a new perspective to the word.

Happy mulling on this calling!