Looking at the World From God's Point of View - Part 7

Today we wrap up our discussion of the last several weeks. Taking our cue from Working Your Way into Heaven by Stefan Cardinal Wyszynski, we've recognized the importance of looking at the world from God's point of view and attempted to find different ways to both understand what this means as well as how to implement this understanding in our daily work. Now some final thoughts.

Recall the premise that God intended us to work with Him in His great work of Creation. Remember that His act of creation did not stop with the Genesis of the universe, but extends to the end of time. From this, we understand that our own work carries out God's plan not only in our cooperation, but in our own positive contribution.

By cooperating with God, man adds, through his work, new values and possibilities to creation.

We can certainly see the advance of material wealth as civilization advances, especially here in the U.S. But let's not forget that material wealth must be combined with not only the spreading of Good News of Jesus Christ, but also with our own personal spiritual growth. That's how we lift the work we do in this world and unite it with God's work. That's how and why we grow in our spiritual lives not only through prayer, but also through our work.

In every work we must, with the help of our rational nature, sense what God intends in His work of creation, so that we may harmonize the rhythm of our work with God's.

Possessing the ability to reason, we can discern what God intends for creation. Our last few posts spelled this out in detail. But such efforts aren't merely an obligation on our part, carried out strictly from a sense of duty. Rather, harmonizing our work with God's lifts us up each day. Rather than simply checking off items on our "To Do" list, as we go through our day we experience joy, a sense of fulfillment. This applies even when we struggle with particularly difficult tasks.

When we grasp God's intentions and cooperate with Him, the heaviest work loses some of its burden; our face, beaded with sweat, lights up in a smile.

When we begin to see the world from God's point of view, and work alongside Him in the ongoing act of Creation that not only formed the universe but keeps it in existence, even the most boring tasks take on a new meaning. 

Work takes on nobility, sublimity, and dignity.

It may be hard to fathom at the moment; perhaps we don't "feel" the nobility inherent in our daily labor. Most of us have days where our work can seem anything but exalted. But applying our reason, allowing the reality of our participation in the great work of Creation to sink in, we will begin to see our work in a different light. In looking at the world from God's point of view, we see our work transformed, along with the rest of our lives. There's no exaggeration here. This transformation lies in the grasp of each and every one of us.

There is no intelligent, purposeful, and useful work that does not have this aspect of nobility. 

With the benefit of Cardinal Wyzynski's comments and insight, I hope you've derived as much benefit as I have from our exploration of just what it means to look at the world from God's point of view.