Do what you love. Follow your passion. Find your calling.
However it's phrased, this is the universal message espoused by many influential thought leaders, from the spiritual to the entrepreneurial. The general idea is that there's often one clear path each person is meant to follow, but Episcopal priest, religion professor and self-described "contrarian Christian" Barbara Brown Taylor has a different take.
When she sits down with Oprah for an interview on "Super Soul Sunday," Rev. Taylor explains her view that people can indeed have more than one calling in life.
"Anyone who's a parent and works outside the home has a couple [of] callings," she points out.
"That's what I say," Oprah agrees. "If you're a parent... that is definitely the big one."
Rev. Taylor has been a spiritual seeker her whole life, but hasn't always followed one definitive path. She made a name for herself after becoming the first woman priest at her small Georgia congregation, but later left the pulpit to teach college and write. She holds a Master of Divinity degree from Yale, has written many books on spirituality and was named one of Time magazine's most influential people in 2014.
"I have relational callings, I have professional callings, I have a number of different callings," Rev. Taylor says. "I also think it's possible to be called away from things I have been called to in the past. I've been powerfully called to some things and just as powerfully called away from them. So, I think that's important, too. There are 'goodbyes' as well as 'hellos' in our callings."
"Oh, I love that," Oprah says. "A calling doesn't have to be for a lifetime, because we're constantly evolving. We're constantly moving forward."
"We are," Rev. Taylor says.
Barbara Brown Taylor's full interview with Oprah airs on "Super Soul Sunday" this Sunday, Nov. 9, on OWN at 11 a.m. ET, during which it also streams live on Oprah.com, Facebook.com/owntv and Facebook.com/supersoulsunday.
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