Work With the Spirit

 

Photo credit: Free-images.com

It may surprise you to learn that St. Paul worked as a tentmaker. Even while traveling great distances to announce the Good News of Christ’s resurrection, he worked. This is surprising because we tend to put the early apostles on a pedestal, thinking they did nothing but pray, perform miracles, and hear the voice of God. But Paul and the others worked as they traveled and preached; it wasn’t necessarily an all-or-nothing endeavor. Paul surely taught them while he worked: Through his words and interactions with his coworkers, he showed them the loving power of God.

God uses you in your work, too. He uses all of us, if we let Him. 

Remember that, through your baptism, the Holy Spirit lives in you. Like a deep well that requires only a bucket to reach the hidden waters below, you have only to ‘dip into’ the power of God to access the love, patience, compassion, peace, and more that He has made available to you through your baptism.

How? First, through prayer. Prayer keeps Him close in mind. Sit quietly, thank Him for loving you, and pay attention to the thoughts that come to you. Read the psalms or any book of the New Testament and see what words strike you. 

Then, draw on the patience that dwells in you when dealing with a difficult client or child. Ask the Spirit to give you insight into how to handle a particular situation – and then pay attention to the ideas that come to mind. Ask Him to help you be fair and honest in your work, in your dealings with coworkers and how you use your time. Ask Him to guide your words when discussions get tense – and then let Him. Ask Him to bless the people who will benefit from the work you do. All these and more will bring our Lord into your workplace.

As Christ spoke to the apostles, He speaks also to and through all of us. We simply have to be open to hearing His words. Start by taking a few moments to thank Him for your job and the people you interact with – that’s prayer. Then, pay attention to how He speaks in your workplace. For example, when you get a friendly call or email just when you need a pick-me-up, that’s Christ speaking through that other person. When you offer encouragement or other kind words to another person, you’re letting Christ speak through you.

As Teresa of Avila said, “God has no hands or feet or voice except ours, and through these He works.” 

No matter what kind of work we do, one of our jobs is to let others see God through our words and interactions with others while we work, just as Paul and the other apostles did. 

“(Paul) stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade.” – Acts 18:3

“Lord, let the work I do be done with You.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

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You Never Know

Even from a distance in the checkout line I could hear the commotion. Walking toward the exit, I saw a woman near the doorway waving her arms and shouting at an employee, her language venomous. Her partner stood at her side, neither encouraging nor discouraging her rampage.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” – Plato

They say that ‘hurt people hurt people’ and that anger is a response to other emotions. Who knows? Maybe that woman had just received some bad news and was hurting inside. Maybe what she was really expressing was fear, or frustration, or helplessness over an unrelated situation. Or, perhaps the employee actually was at fault and the customer had never been taught how to handle or express her emotions. Maybe that wouldn’t excuse her behavior -- but it could explain it.

The lesson of ‘be considerate and don’t criticize because we usually don’t know where someone is coming from’ hit home to me soon after my mom passed away nearly 25 years ago. I was in a grocery store and caught my reflection in a window. It startled me: my face looked angry and mean. I felt sad, not mad, yet anyone looking at me wouldn’t have known that.

When we consider these and other possibilities, we let go of our pride and critical mindset and become more understanding and sympathetic.

Putting ourselves in other people’s shoes helps us to be patient. Have you ever had to rush to the hospital? The car speeding past you might be headed there, too – you never know. The greatest thing to do is ask our Lord to bless them.

You’re trying to be and do your best. Sometimes life’s challenges affect your words and actions; the same is true for all of us. We never know what someone may be going through. Trying to maintain an attitude of kindness will keep open the door to peace, in ourselves and those around us.

“Love is patient, love is kind… love never fails.” --1 Corinthians 13:4, 8

 

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God Doesn't Give Up

 

Imagine driving across the country on a highway with no roadblocks, no detours, and even no attractive exits along the way. Imagine nothing but a straight path, free of challenges and anything that would distract you from reaching your destination.

Sometimes we want life to be like that: we want God to make our journey easy. He knows better than we do, though, and in His wisdom He lets us choose which routes to follow and which exits to take. Over the past 10, 30 or 50 years you probably chose routes that brought you closer to Him and maybe took exits that led you far away from Him. You may even be lost right now. No matter where you are, God sees your potential. He invites you to turn toward Him and let Him pour His grace on you. He will never give up on you because He knows you’re still on your journey.   

Imagine what would have happened if Jesus had said to Zacchaeus, “You’re a liar and a cheat. I doubt anyone would hire you, but go get a decent job and then come back. Maybe I’ll let you hang out with Me.” Instead, Jesus first loved him. He saw the longing in his heart and offered him an opportunity to follow Him. The love and peace that radiated from Jesus caused Zacchaeus to quit his job on the spot, take Jesus up on His invitation, and offer to pay back fourfold anyone he had cheated. Jesus loved him despite his dishonest work and then Zacchaeus turned his life around.

God does the same with us. He doesn’t say, “Get your act together and then I’ll love you.” Instead, He loves us first. He loves us now. He knows we have the potential to become more like Him and never gives up on us. He gives us opportunities to turn toward Him through our circumstances, the people we encounter, and the sacraments. He continually invites us to follow His way of gentleness, kindness, compassion, and patience which will bring us the joy we so desperately long for.

God offers His love and mercy to us no matter where we are. In turn, we’re called to offer these to our ‘travel companions’ and invite them to follow Him. We don’t know all the roadblocks they’ve encountered, and maybe they’ve taken exits we’re unfamiliar with. That’s not our business. What matters is that we’re all on this journey together and, as He won’t give up on us, we can’t give up on each other. Let’s ask God to guide all of us on our journey and lead us closer to Him.

 “Lord, thank You for not giving up on me.”

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