have a higher calling

To have, pursue, or desire some vocation that one feels is of especial moral importance, especially that of religious service. He had a lucrative career in computer programming, but he felt he had a higher calling as a servant of God, so he moved to a monastery in Portugal be ordained. Poets have a higher calling to reveal truth and beauty in the mundane. She feels that she has a higher calling to provide medical services to people in underserved areas.