Let's Start This Work Day with a Fresh, New Point of View
Let's start this work day with a fresh, new point of view. This past Sunday we talked about awe and astonishment: See things in a fresh light, as they might have looked when you were a child, before your adult life dampened everything down into an ordinary, everyday experience, with one day following the next, almost ad infinitum.
Our "normal" routines can, of course, help us get through our required tasks at work efficiently. But, again, they can also become heavy chains around our necks. We walk about, heads bowed, never looking beyond our noses. Focus and concentration serve us well, until they become blinders that make us oblivious to everything else around you. You do this, you do that, meanwhile missing the wonders of the world.
It's time to break those chains. How? Let's take your laptop as one simple example. When was the last time you were blown away by it? Shouldn't you be? Look at what it does for you. That's not awesome? Or the Internet: information at your fingertips in an instant: astonishing, isn't it?
Chesterton once suggested we should "stare at familiar things until they begin to look strange." He wanted to encourage us to see what really lies sort of hidden in the familiar. Rather than sleepwalk through another day, get that mind churning, probing, really thinking, really seeing. The fact is the most common object - a rock, a patch of grass - is part of God's creation. God's creation! Our Father made all this out of nothing. For us. Are you waking up now?
Good. Now let's elevate our wonder, our awe and astonishment to the spiritual realm. Yes, I realize you've got a job to do. But, really, take a moment or two to do this. You do take breaks from work, don't you? Here, try reading this poem:
If you this poem slowly carefully, and given it even a minute's thought, you've likely broken those chains! You raised your head up for a few minutes and got outside your job, the task at hand, really outside yourself. Of course, you'll go right back to work. You'll diligently attend to your responsibilities. But maybe, just maybe, even if for only a moment or two, you'll see Jesus now in your work, whatever you're doing right now. You know He's here, don't you? Right here and now. In every thought, word, and gesture throughout your work day, Jesus has come alive in your work if you simply recognize Him there. See Him and invite Him to work beside you. Isn't that awesome? Isn't that astonishing?
Our "normal" routines can, of course, help us get through our required tasks at work efficiently. But, again, they can also become heavy chains around our necks. We walk about, heads bowed, never looking beyond our noses. Focus and concentration serve us well, until they become blinders that make us oblivious to everything else around you. You do this, you do that, meanwhile missing the wonders of the world.
It's time to break those chains. How? Let's take your laptop as one simple example. When was the last time you were blown away by it? Shouldn't you be? Look at what it does for you. That's not awesome? Or the Internet: information at your fingertips in an instant: astonishing, isn't it?
Chesterton once suggested we should "stare at familiar things until they begin to look strange." He wanted to encourage us to see what really lies sort of hidden in the familiar. Rather than sleepwalk through another day, get that mind churning, probing, really thinking, really seeing. The fact is the most common object - a rock, a patch of grass - is part of God's creation. God's creation! Our Father made all this out of nothing. For us. Are you waking up now?
Good. Now let's elevate our wonder, our awe and astonishment to the spiritual realm. Yes, I realize you've got a job to do. But, really, take a moment or two to do this. You do take breaks from work, don't you? Here, try reading this poem:
I see His blood upon the rose,
And in the stars the glory of His eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.
I see His face in every flower,
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but His voice –
And carven by His power,
Rocks are His written words.
All pathways by His feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.
And in the stars the glory of His eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.
I see His face in every flower,
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but His voice –
And carven by His power,
Rocks are His written words.
All pathways by His feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.
If you this poem slowly carefully, and given it even a minute's thought, you've likely broken those chains! You raised your head up for a few minutes and got outside your job, the task at hand, really outside yourself. Of course, you'll go right back to work. You'll diligently attend to your responsibilities. But maybe, just maybe, even if for only a moment or two, you'll see Jesus now in your work, whatever you're doing right now. You know He's here, don't you? Right here and now. In every thought, word, and gesture throughout your work day, Jesus has come alive in your work if you simply recognize Him there. See Him and invite Him to work beside you. Isn't that awesome? Isn't that astonishing?
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