"Spirituality and Energy at Work"
   By Ellen Hayakawa

Part of Chapter 2-- The Calling of Spirit

"Your work is to discover your work and, then with all your heart to give yourself to it." 
- Buddha

Vocation is from the latin word vocare - to call.  In each of our hearts and souls there is a calling.   The calling is to know our life's purpose.   Only through fulfilling our life's purpose can we truly come to know ourselves and the world in which we live.  There is a calling in our souls to be as fully a part of the creative impulse of the planet as we can be. Work that comes as a result of our calling and purpose is the highest and most sacred expression of our soul.  In its action, it is the most practical and useful and is for the highest good of all. 

Every person is here for a sacred purpose and with this sacred purpose comes a sacred vision.  To some, consciously realizing life's purpose is not important. To others, it is important because it provides the meaning of our life and a Source from which to live truthfully and with heart.   If we have truly surrendered ourselves to be of service to our families, workplaces and the world at large, we will find that the way to fulfilling our life's sacred purpose is continually unfolding.   In order to respond to the unfolding way, we must be fully conscious and aware in each moment.

One of the best models I can think of is a man by the name of Merv Wilkinson, who lives just north of Nanaimo, British Columbia.  Merv was honoured for his work in sustainable forestry by winning an award at the 1999 Ethics in Action Awards Dinner in Vancouver, Canada.  I have been privileged enough to spend time with Merv in his forest - Wildwood Tree Farm. Merv can be described as a combination of forest elf, sprite and warrior for justice of  trees and forests.  He expresses his spirituality through his work - by loving and caring for his forest and by advancing and advocating the principles of sustainability.   Merv grew up in his forest and has worked there for over 50 years .  He had a challenge convincing others that sustainable forestry is possible so he decided to show that it is by simply doing it.

One of Merv's greatest contributions is in the field of education.  While going on a tour with him through the forest, I could feel the love he has for it, his garden of trees that he tends with the love of a parent and the wonder of a child.  He is always discovering and learning new things about the forest.   Merv is an observer first and then a doer - only doing when his observations have confirmed that the path he takes adds to the natural cycles of the forest.   When I did a walkabout with Merv it was probably the thousandth time or more that he had shown visitors around.  But I would not know this listening to Merv's passion and enthusiasm for telling the story of the forest and his relationship to his living friend.   The  forest is both peaceful and vibrant.  Stories of bears, cougars and woodpeckers who tend ant farms weave threads of colour through the background of green.  Added to that are the concrete indisputable facts of how and why this works spiritually and economically as a business as he respects the cycles of nature.   Merv has had 1/3 of his income per year come from the forest over the last 50 years. He employs a miller full-time and the products from his forest are used by over 26 people in services such as boat-building, instrument- building.   When he fells a tree it is with the ceremony the tree deserves in tribute for offering its life.   Merv is now in his 80's and an elder.  He is endlessly

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