Imitating Christ at Work...Continued

We're continuing our discussion about imitating Christ at work. It's not something we do for "extra credit"; it's essential - essential, that is, if you want to deepen your spiritual life, if you want to grow closer to Our Lord. You do want that, don't you?

Not sure just how to imitate Our Lord during your busy work day? Let's turn back to Father George Zimpfer for some guidance here. This rich, dense paragraph is worth reading and re-reading. If you take a few moments to do so, and then think about the points Father makes here, I suspect you'll see just how your work day provides many opportunities to enrich your spiritual life:

Familiarity, then, with the events of our Savior’s life is of immense value to anyone who desires spirituality. But a mere knowledge of the events alone would be sterile. Just as history is the study of motives rather than of movements, so knowledge of the Gospel events must always be less important than a true knowledge of the spirit back of the events. To be more specific, we must strive to live and fight for truth as Jesus lived and fought for it; we must attack ignorance and sham as he attacked it, with no complacence in our own superiority, clearly seeing the difference between the sinner and the sin. We must develop courage and fearlessness in facing the harshness of men and their deep selfishness, preferring to see them as ignorant rather than as malicious. We must seek to acquire some of our Lord’s patience and kindness, His charity and tolerance, His understanding and gentleness. These qualities and many others are what we mean by the ‘spirit’ of Jesus. They do not come to us magically by conformity to some religious Rule or by set forms of prayer and practices, however good these may be in themselves. The spirit of Jesus comes only as our own personality merges, as it were, with that of Jesus, as we reflect in our daily conduct His ideal of living. When this desire to mold our exterior and interior living on the example of Jesus colors our day’s activities, we call the result virtue - or spirituality.

After reading this, I came up with a list of items I can apply today and everyday at work:

• Fight for truth as Jesus lived and fought for it.
• Attack ignorance and sham as he attacked it, with no complacence in our own superiority, seeing the difference between the sinner and the sin.
• Develop courage and fearlessness in facing the harshness of men and their deep selfishness, seeing them as ignorant rather than as malicious.
• Seek to acquire some of Our Lord's patience and kindness, His charity and tolerance, His understanding and gentleness.

Depending on the general nature of your work, and the specific tasks on today's "To Do" list, you'll likely be able to apply at least some of these today. At the very least, all of us can seek to acquire some of Our Lord's patience and kindness, His charity and tolerance, His understanding and gentleness, don't you think?

We hear a lot of talk about people wanting to "make a difference." Imagine all of us applying this list of items today at work. You don't have to be rich, or in a position of power to make a difference for the better in your life. Simply apply these at work today. You'll be imitating Christ. The result will be, as Father Zimpfer points out, an increase in you of virtue - or spirituality - and the world will be a better place because of it.