Karen Swallow Prior returns to the podcast to help us rethink what calling really is. It's not a passion we chase or a dream we conjure up, but something that comes from outside of us. Something we respond to. We talk about the slow work of vocation, how it shifts over time, and why pursuing what’s true, good, and beautiful in ordinary life might be the most faithful thing we can do. This conversation is for anyone in the middle of change, trying to find their way, or wondering if the work they’re doing still matters. There’s room for all of it here.

Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D. is a popular writer and speaker. A former English professor, Karen is now a contributing writer for The Dispatch and a columnist for Religion News Service. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Vox, The Washington Post, Christianity Today, and many other places. Her most recent book is You Have a Calling: Finding Your Vocation in the True, Good, and Beautiful (Brazos 2025).

Karen's Book:

You Have a Calling

Karen's Recommendation:

Small Things Like These

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