More on a Fresh, New Perspective at Work
We continue our theme of looking at our work with a fresh, new perspective. The timing's especially good right now. It's the first day of October, a new month in this young autumn season.
As we did last time, we want to see ordinary things, stuff like your laptop and the internet, in an extraordinary way:
I worked for a market-leading company a number of years ago. It sold specialized consumer products. The founder was mentioned from time to time. A book was written about him. I found that few of my colleagues really had any knowledge or understanding of this guy. I read the book, and did some other long research. It gave me an appreciation both of the wonder of just how and why this company grew as it did. I understood why the company produced quality products and took pride in them. My own efforts to market and sell the company's products were enhanced by that knowledge. As opposed to some of my colleagues, whenever possible and practical I used my company's products and grew to appreciate their quality.
It also helped me understand the difficulties it faced when I worked there. The founder was long dead. His vision really didn't match the current market realities very well. A lot of the folks at the top, who either knew the founder or had been in some way strongly influenced by his vision, were trying to fit a square peg (the founder's vision and way of doing business) in a round hole (the reality of the current marketplace). The company eventually was bought out in a hostile takeover that cost me my job. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but in looking back on it, I think I was better prepared for what in retrospect was likely an inevitable result of the disconnect with reality that infected the company.
In any case, knowing your company's history can give you a new and fresh perspective on your work, one way or the other.
You can apply this approach to your spiritual life as well by asking similar questions about our Catholic religion. Seriously. Go back in time: How did it start? Who founded it?, etc. No, it's not too obvious or simplistic. If you take the time to think about it, why not start at the beginning: the Incarnation, the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Doesn't the mere fact of the Incarnation inspire an overwhelming sense of awe and astonishment? It should. Doesn't it create a fresh, new perspective on your faith? It should. Doesn't it inspire you such that it changes your way of living? It should.
C'mon, think about it: The "founder" was God, who took a human nature, became Man, born in stable, worked in poverty an toil, suffered unspeakable torture and died in agony just so you could spend eternity in happiness in Heaven. Shouldn't that cause you to change your way of thinking, speaking, even your daily behavior in a profound, radical way?
If your spiritual life finds you sort of muddling through your prayers, pious acts, studies, etc., this simple yet serious exercise might help perk you up. The more you dig in, the more you'll find to support and enliven your struggle for holiness. Seeking sanctity, frequently an ideal somewhere "out there" that we attend to on occasion, might even become what it should be: a normal part of your everyday life.
Wake up. Push your regular routines off to the side for a bit. Don't worry; they'll still be there when you come back for them. For now, though, take a fresh new perspective at work. Then try it in your spiritual life.
As we did last time, we want to see ordinary things, stuff like your laptop and the internet, in an extraordinary way:
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?Let's look at another item: your company's history. This likely makes most sense when you work for an older company, but might apply to any enterprise. How did it start? Who founded it? Why? Is it an interesting, even glorious history? Here's one example from my own experience.
I worked for a market-leading company a number of years ago. It sold specialized consumer products. The founder was mentioned from time to time. A book was written about him. I found that few of my colleagues really had any knowledge or understanding of this guy. I read the book, and did some other long research. It gave me an appreciation both of the wonder of just how and why this company grew as it did. I understood why the company produced quality products and took pride in them. My own efforts to market and sell the company's products were enhanced by that knowledge. As opposed to some of my colleagues, whenever possible and practical I used my company's products and grew to appreciate their quality.
It also helped me understand the difficulties it faced when I worked there. The founder was long dead. His vision really didn't match the current market realities very well. A lot of the folks at the top, who either knew the founder or had been in some way strongly influenced by his vision, were trying to fit a square peg (the founder's vision and way of doing business) in a round hole (the reality of the current marketplace). The company eventually was bought out in a hostile takeover that cost me my job. It wasn't a pleasant experience, but in looking back on it, I think I was better prepared for what in retrospect was likely an inevitable result of the disconnect with reality that infected the company.
In any case, knowing your company's history can give you a new and fresh perspective on your work, one way or the other.
You can apply this approach to your spiritual life as well by asking similar questions about our Catholic religion. Seriously. Go back in time: How did it start? Who founded it?, etc. No, it's not too obvious or simplistic. If you take the time to think about it, why not start at the beginning: the Incarnation, the birth of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Doesn't the mere fact of the Incarnation inspire an overwhelming sense of awe and astonishment? It should. Doesn't it create a fresh, new perspective on your faith? It should. Doesn't it inspire you such that it changes your way of living? It should.
C'mon, think about it: The "founder" was God, who took a human nature, became Man, born in stable, worked in poverty an toil, suffered unspeakable torture and died in agony just so you could spend eternity in happiness in Heaven. Shouldn't that cause you to change your way of thinking, speaking, even your daily behavior in a profound, radical way?
If your spiritual life finds you sort of muddling through your prayers, pious acts, studies, etc., this simple yet serious exercise might help perk you up. The more you dig in, the more you'll find to support and enliven your struggle for holiness. Seeking sanctity, frequently an ideal somewhere "out there" that we attend to on occasion, might even become what it should be: a normal part of your everyday life.
Wake up. Push your regular routines off to the side for a bit. Don't worry; they'll still be there when you come back for them. For now, though, take a fresh new perspective at work. Then try it in your spiritual life.
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