Work in a Godless World
Most of us work in a godless world. By "godless" I mean a world that pretty much doesn't acknowledge God. If it does, it makes sure God is kept in His place. By "in His place" I mean that the only relevance religion has in our world is that of a "personal choice," a "feeling" or some sort of "expression" of our personal views. God has no objective existence, no public stature, no standing, no place in the daily lives we share with our fellow workers.
Of course, I'm not saying that we should be talking about God with each other during the workday. But is it really appropriate to ignore Him as most of us do all day? We know how Our Father loves us, how He sent His only begotten Son to save us from our sins. We know how Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, did just that by His terrible suffering and death - a completely pure, innocent man condemned to death by our sins - more specifically by us.
Yet we can go about the day without giving Him a thought. Stunning, isn't it?
That's why beginning the day with some reading and study is so important. You can, of course, do your reading of Scripture, your spiritual reading and your doctrinal study any time during the day. But I suspect that most of us would be better off starting things off with these "norms of piety" - as they are called - rather than trying to cram them in during our busy days or rely on having the energy and concentration at the end of a busy day at work.
If we don't spend our time with God each day, then we are part of that godless world, right? And, of course, that's no way for a Catholic man to live or work.
And so we get up a bit earlier, we Catholic men, just so we can have some time with Our Lord, so we can spend some profitable moments reading and studying, before the crush of activity that marks the work day takes our attention away from Him. And since we know that the world today runs on basically a godless schedule, we need this time with Him desperately. Don't you think?
It pays off when we make this time for Him. Sure, some mornings I've just mumbled my prayers without much attention. I've hardly thought about the Scriptural passage I'm reading - just words on a page. (Imagine: the Word of God just words on a page! But that's our lot as fallen creatures, I suppose.) The spiritual reading doesn't break through the flow of thoughts that run through my mind in the background, anticipating some "more important" things I've got to do during the day. And my doctrinal reading - well, there are mornings where I have no idea what the words mean, certainly not how they apply to my life. (Not that the words aren't full of the richness of the Faith. It's my distracted mind unable to concentrate because - well, because that's just how I woke up this morning: distracted...weak-minded creature that I am.)
But it pays off when, albeit not often enough, the words of Scripture reach out of my Bible and grab my attention and hold it there, filling my mind and soul with the sustenance that will carry me through my otherwise godless day - like this from Psalm 42:
This greeted me one morning, one ordinary, unexceptional morning, before I left my home for the godless world. The words filled me like high-octane fuel in a finely-tuned motor. With pistons firing away, I came alive, alive to God, my Father, to Our Blessed Lord, with the power of the Holy Spirit - just like it should be, I suppose, every morning (and sadly isn't). But this morning it was. Deo Gratias!
That's why it's so important to make time for your norms of piety each day. Facing the godless world at work would simply grind us into dust over time if not for the time we spend with God.
You can't wait for a godless world to feed you the Word. It won't. But if you "seize the day" in this godless world of ours, and come to your work filled with the Holy Spirit, because of your prayer, meditation, reading, study and - most of all - your reception of Our Lord in Holy Communion - then you'll know that the world is godless only for the godless, not for us Catholic men.
Of course, I'm not saying that we should be talking about God with each other during the workday. But is it really appropriate to ignore Him as most of us do all day? We know how Our Father loves us, how He sent His only begotten Son to save us from our sins. We know how Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, did just that by His terrible suffering and death - a completely pure, innocent man condemned to death by our sins - more specifically by us.
Yet we can go about the day without giving Him a thought. Stunning, isn't it?
That's why beginning the day with some reading and study is so important. You can, of course, do your reading of Scripture, your spiritual reading and your doctrinal study any time during the day. But I suspect that most of us would be better off starting things off with these "norms of piety" - as they are called - rather than trying to cram them in during our busy days or rely on having the energy and concentration at the end of a busy day at work.
If we don't spend our time with God each day, then we are part of that godless world, right? And, of course, that's no way for a Catholic man to live or work.
And so we get up a bit earlier, we Catholic men, just so we can have some time with Our Lord, so we can spend some profitable moments reading and studying, before the crush of activity that marks the work day takes our attention away from Him. And since we know that the world today runs on basically a godless schedule, we need this time with Him desperately. Don't you think?
It pays off when we make this time for Him. Sure, some mornings I've just mumbled my prayers without much attention. I've hardly thought about the Scriptural passage I'm reading - just words on a page. (Imagine: the Word of God just words on a page! But that's our lot as fallen creatures, I suppose.) The spiritual reading doesn't break through the flow of thoughts that run through my mind in the background, anticipating some "more important" things I've got to do during the day. And my doctrinal reading - well, there are mornings where I have no idea what the words mean, certainly not how they apply to my life. (Not that the words aren't full of the richness of the Faith. It's my distracted mind unable to concentrate because - well, because that's just how I woke up this morning: distracted...weak-minded creature that I am.)
But it pays off when, albeit not often enough, the words of Scripture reach out of my Bible and grab my attention and hold it there, filling my mind and soul with the sustenance that will carry me through my otherwise godless day - like this from Psalm 42:
As a hart longs for flowing streams,
so longs my soul for thee, O God.
My soul thirsts for God,
for the living God.
When shall I come and behold the fact of God?
My tears have been my food day and night,
while men say to me continually,
"Where is your God?"
This greeted me one morning, one ordinary, unexceptional morning, before I left my home for the godless world. The words filled me like high-octane fuel in a finely-tuned motor. With pistons firing away, I came alive, alive to God, my Father, to Our Blessed Lord, with the power of the Holy Spirit - just like it should be, I suppose, every morning (and sadly isn't). But this morning it was. Deo Gratias!
That's why it's so important to make time for your norms of piety each day. Facing the godless world at work would simply grind us into dust over time if not for the time we spend with God.
You can't wait for a godless world to feed you the Word. It won't. But if you "seize the day" in this godless world of ours, and come to your work filled with the Holy Spirit, because of your prayer, meditation, reading, study and - most of all - your reception of Our Lord in Holy Communion - then you'll know that the world is godless only for the godless, not for us Catholic men.
Comments