The theme of Breaking Bread Spring 2005 was "Hearing the Call". For centuries, finding purpose in life has been at the heart of the human quest. Yet for many, especially college students, their purpose in life remains urgent but unclear. We focused the evening's discussion on the experience of finding one's purpose and direction in life. Dr. Os Guinness opened the evening with a brief reflection on vocation.
The dinner took place in the Notre Dame Stadium Press Box on April 6, 2005. Participants arrived around 6:00 and had some time to mingle and get to know each other while enjoying the view. Dinner started at 6:30. There were seven students and one professor at each table. At the beginning of dinner, Dr. Guinness spoke about finding and fulfilling one's central purpose in life. His remarks were meant to serve as a springboard for the small-group discussions that followed. The evening wrapped up around 8:30.
More About Dr. Os Guinness:
Dr. Guinness is a writer and speaker living in Northern Virginia.
Born in China during World War II, he remained there until 1951 when the Communists forced most foreigners to leave. Since then he has lived mostly in England, Switzerland and the United States.
Educated in England, he did undergraduate studies at the University of London and postgraduate studies at University of Oxford, where he graduated with a D.Phil in the social sciences from Oriel College.
He has written or edited more than twenty books, including The American Hour (Free Press, 1993), The Call (Word 1998), Time for Truth (Baker 2000) and Long Journey Home (Doubleday 2001).
Since 1984, he has lived in the Washington, DC area. He was a Guest Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Studies and then a Guest Scholar and Visiting Fellow at the Brookings Institution. From 1986 - 1989 he was the Executive Director of the Williamsburg Charter Foundation, one of the drafters of the Williamsburg Charter, and co-author of the public school curriculum Living With Our Deepest Differences.
Dr. Guinness is the co-founder of The Trinity Forum and served as Senior Fellow and Vice Chairman of the Board from its inception in 1991 until 2004. He directed the first seven seminar curricula and many other projects during that period and was a regular Moderator at Forums in the United States, Europe and Asia.
His deep concern is to bridge the chasm between academic knowledge and popular knowledge, taking things that are academically important and making them intelligible and practicable to a wider audience, especially as they concern matters of public policy.
