Theologians often credit Saint Augustine and his popular spiritual autobiography, The Confessions, with both the emergence and understanding of a sort of vocational awareness and discernment form known simply as 'situations in life'. The idea is that in the absence of any clear direction of where we are going or where we would like to go - philosophically speaking in terms of one's life path and progress, that is - it is our own 'situations in life' which often help us determine the path of progress, spiritual or otherwise.
The faithful often believe that nothing happens by coincidence; that there is, instead, One who guides and directs us along our way in this life towards eternal union with Him in the next. Clearly, this is the One that the faithful call God. God's own Divine Providence and 'calling' stands ever 'at the helm' of the boat that is our human lives.
This book, itself a collection of thoughtful musings on Christian spirituality, explores not simply the ideas of 'calling' and Divine Providence as it concerns one's life direction or purpose, but instead posits that the knowledge of God and the desire to seek after Him is at the core of our identity. Like a tattoo on the skin or an engraving on the stone, the desire to seek God is indelibly inscribed upon our hearts.