Let Wise Men and Shepherds Lead You To Success
Being competent at something, excelling at our work, requires great curiosity and humility. If we're starting out or changing careers, we come to our work needing to learn. The more curious we are to learn as much as possible, the better we'll develop the skills we need to excell in our new position.
If we've been hired because we're already an expert at something, curiosity should never cease in our daily efforts. We can always learn more. We can both sharpen our current skills and increase our skill set, thereby increasing our value to our company.
In either case - that of someone starting out in the work world or someone hired for a proven set of skills - humility should also play a prominent role in our daily work. We know the supernatural reason for this: Our Lord Himself and Our Blessed Mother set the example for us in their perfect humility. We Catholic men at work have no better example to follow than Our Lord and Our Lady.
Then there's the natural reason: There's nothing worse than a "know-it-all." I've worked with these arrogant types, all full of themselves. Not only are they difficult, insufferable people to work with, they usually know far less than they think they do. Rather than smart or learned, they're mostly ignorant. Most importantly, they don't know what they don't know.
This past Christmas, we read again of the Shepherds and the Wise Men. The Shepherds were ignorant, unlearned men. But they were curious to know who this savior was of whom the angels were singing. When they arrived at the manger in Bethlehem, they recognized Our Lord as Savior. Their curiosity motivated them to make the effort to walk to the manger and their ignorance and humility kept their minds open to receive the Truth. Of course, God's grace provided the light for them to see Our Lord as Savior. But without their humility and curiosity, they would have been blind to that light.
The Wise Men were learned, but, like all really wise people, they knew they didn't know certain things. They were curious too. When the Star caught their attention, they were open to the evidence the heavens presented to them regarding that Star. With the humility of the truly wise, and the curiosity of the truly learned, their minds and hearts could receive the grace sent them by God. And so they followed the Star to find the truth. They found Our Lord, the Truth, because of their curiosity and their humility.
Curiosity, humility, knowing what you don't know, wanting to know the truth - all these will help us at our work. They will motivate and push us to develop the skills we need to succeed at our work. And with a prayerful attitude, one open to God's grace at all times, we will be ready for God's grace - the grace we need to not only succeed at our jobs in the material, worldly sense, but also to transform our work so that it serves His will. We will work for the greater glory of God - just like the Wise Men and the Shepherds over two millenia ago.
If we've been hired because we're already an expert at something, curiosity should never cease in our daily efforts. We can always learn more. We can both sharpen our current skills and increase our skill set, thereby increasing our value to our company.
In either case - that of someone starting out in the work world or someone hired for a proven set of skills - humility should also play a prominent role in our daily work. We know the supernatural reason for this: Our Lord Himself and Our Blessed Mother set the example for us in their perfect humility. We Catholic men at work have no better example to follow than Our Lord and Our Lady.
Then there's the natural reason: There's nothing worse than a "know-it-all." I've worked with these arrogant types, all full of themselves. Not only are they difficult, insufferable people to work with, they usually know far less than they think they do. Rather than smart or learned, they're mostly ignorant. Most importantly, they don't know what they don't know.
This past Christmas, we read again of the Shepherds and the Wise Men. The Shepherds were ignorant, unlearned men. But they were curious to know who this savior was of whom the angels were singing. When they arrived at the manger in Bethlehem, they recognized Our Lord as Savior. Their curiosity motivated them to make the effort to walk to the manger and their ignorance and humility kept their minds open to receive the Truth. Of course, God's grace provided the light for them to see Our Lord as Savior. But without their humility and curiosity, they would have been blind to that light.
The Wise Men were learned, but, like all really wise people, they knew they didn't know certain things. They were curious too. When the Star caught their attention, they were open to the evidence the heavens presented to them regarding that Star. With the humility of the truly wise, and the curiosity of the truly learned, their minds and hearts could receive the grace sent them by God. And so they followed the Star to find the truth. They found Our Lord, the Truth, because of their curiosity and their humility.
Curiosity, humility, knowing what you don't know, wanting to know the truth - all these will help us at our work. They will motivate and push us to develop the skills we need to succeed at our work. And with a prayerful attitude, one open to God's grace at all times, we will be ready for God's grace - the grace we need to not only succeed at our jobs in the material, worldly sense, but also to transform our work so that it serves His will. We will work for the greater glory of God - just like the Wise Men and the Shepherds over two millenia ago.
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