Take the Initiative - Then Give It to God
We American businessmen value initiative. When we find an employee who doesn't need constant direction and hand-holding, we try to find ways to keep him or her. Such people stand out from the crowd - that typically passive mass of employees who always have to be told what to do, who need lots of hand-holding and "motivation" simply to get a good days' work done.
So "self-starter" stands out and gets our attention. Indeed, many of us got to where we are because we were able to take the initiative. We were able to get the job done - and done well - without requiring others to constantly motivate us. We're "self-motivated."
Initiative is indeed a kind of business virtue. But it also has a side that can undermine our relationship with God if we're not careful.
The Holy Father, in a short sermon regarding the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent points this out. (That's the gospel, if you remember, where Jesus goes into the desert for 40 days and is tempted by the devil.) The Pope says, "The temptation to remove God, to regulate ourselves and the world counting only on our own abilities, has always been present in the history of man."
There's certainly nothing wrong with taking the initiative at work. But if we are truly self-motivated, if we are self-disciplined and develop the habit of relying only on ourselves, we run the danger of removing God from our lives. That's why sanctifying our work is absolutely critical for us Catholic men.
Sanctifying our work doesn't have to be mysterious. If you start your day right, with prayer, reading, maybe a few minutes of meditation, before launching your busy day at work, you can't help but bring God to your work with you. You will approach your work each day in the right frame of mind.
Once the day begins, you may find that a day goes by where you didn't think about God. You were so busy, so consumed with your work - especially when you face pressing deadlines - that the day flies by without a thought of God. You think back on the day and realize that - even though God is present to us all the time - you didn't pay Him any mind.
OK. It happens. The fact that you realize this is key. And maybe the next day, you will pause from time to time to think of Our Lord, to say a simple aspiration, maybe just His Holy Name, "Jesus." And if you're really on your game, you will acknowledge that - in spite of all your initiative - you know that in the end you need to rely on Him in all things, even in accomplishing your day's plan for your work.
Take initiative, but rely on God. Develop the habit, from the moment you wake up until you go to sleep to acknowledge His Holy Presence and your reliance on Him for all the good you do during the day. Don't fall into the trap of letting your initiative take you away from God. Rather, use your initiative to bring yourself closer to Our Lord each day, step by step, by giving Him all the glory.
It's something like when football players acknowledge God when they score a touchdown, or baseball players point to the sky when they hit a home run. They're saying thanks to God. They're giving Him all the glory.
That's what we need to do too. Give all the glory to God. That's one way we can work for His greater glory each day, or as St Ignatius put it regarding his own work:
For the greater glory of God.
So "self-starter" stands out and gets our attention. Indeed, many of us got to where we are because we were able to take the initiative. We were able to get the job done - and done well - without requiring others to constantly motivate us. We're "self-motivated."
Initiative is indeed a kind of business virtue. But it also has a side that can undermine our relationship with God if we're not careful.
The Holy Father, in a short sermon regarding the Gospel for the First Sunday of Lent points this out. (That's the gospel, if you remember, where Jesus goes into the desert for 40 days and is tempted by the devil.) The Pope says, "The temptation to remove God, to regulate ourselves and the world counting only on our own abilities, has always been present in the history of man."
There's certainly nothing wrong with taking the initiative at work. But if we are truly self-motivated, if we are self-disciplined and develop the habit of relying only on ourselves, we run the danger of removing God from our lives. That's why sanctifying our work is absolutely critical for us Catholic men.
Sanctifying our work doesn't have to be mysterious. If you start your day right, with prayer, reading, maybe a few minutes of meditation, before launching your busy day at work, you can't help but bring God to your work with you. You will approach your work each day in the right frame of mind.
Once the day begins, you may find that a day goes by where you didn't think about God. You were so busy, so consumed with your work - especially when you face pressing deadlines - that the day flies by without a thought of God. You think back on the day and realize that - even though God is present to us all the time - you didn't pay Him any mind.
OK. It happens. The fact that you realize this is key. And maybe the next day, you will pause from time to time to think of Our Lord, to say a simple aspiration, maybe just His Holy Name, "Jesus." And if you're really on your game, you will acknowledge that - in spite of all your initiative - you know that in the end you need to rely on Him in all things, even in accomplishing your day's plan for your work.
Take initiative, but rely on God. Develop the habit, from the moment you wake up until you go to sleep to acknowledge His Holy Presence and your reliance on Him for all the good you do during the day. Don't fall into the trap of letting your initiative take you away from God. Rather, use your initiative to bring yourself closer to Our Lord each day, step by step, by giving Him all the glory.
It's something like when football players acknowledge God when they score a touchdown, or baseball players point to the sky when they hit a home run. They're saying thanks to God. They're giving Him all the glory.
That's what we need to do too. Give all the glory to God. That's one way we can work for His greater glory each day, or as St Ignatius put it regarding his own work:
Ad maioriem Dei gloriam
For the greater glory of God.
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