Applying the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit to Our Work - Part 6
We're continuing our series about applying the Seven Gifts of the
Holy Spirit to our work by first considering each gift in order, using
the solid foundation of the
oldest of novenas to help us understand each. Then we'll try to
apply our understanding and see how each gift can help guide us each day
as we strive to work for the greater glory of God.
Today we consider Counsel, beginning with how this gift is presented to us in the Novena to the Holy Spirit:
"The gift of Counsel endows the soul with supernatural prudence, enabling it to judge promptly and rightly what must be done, especially in difficult circumstances. Counsel applies the principles furnished by Knowledge and Understanding to the innumerable concrete cases that confront us in the course of our daily duty as parents, teachers, public servants, and Christian citizens. Counsel is supernatural common sense, a priceless treasure in the quest of salvation. About all these things, pray to the Most High, that He may direct thy way in truth.'"
After our discussion of the Gift of Knowledge and Understanding, we find ourselves in the position of how to apply these Gifts in our daily lives, which includes our work. And, lo and behold, our gracious Holy Spirit provides just what we need: the Gift of Counsel, which "applies the principles furnished by Knowledge and Understanding to the innumerable concrete cases that confront us in the course of our daily duty..."
As we've noted before, we need a kind of supernatural sensibility in order to see things as God intended them to be seen. We get this from Counsel. With it, we can "judge promptly what must be done" because we have the perspective of seeing all things as God sees them. Of course, we're not seeing things from the Divine perspective exactly as God sees them. We have to remember that we grasp reality through an intellect darkened by our fallen human nature. Our perspective is therefore somewhat limited.
One way to understand our limited perspective here might be to see ourselves as soldiers at war. (We are, after all, always engaged in a kind of war with the world, the flesh, and the Devil, right?) Even though our generals devise a strategy to engage and defeat the enemy, once we're in the thick of the battle, our world consists of just what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel around us. We can use our minds to try to grasp what's happening, but our immediate surroundings restrict and dim our view. We simply can't helicopter up and over the action, clear away the smoke and fire, and see everything clearly. Heck, even generals can't always know everything going on during a battle. They refer to this dilemma as the "fog of war."
Applying this to our daily work, it's so easy to be lost in the weeds of our daily grind. Even if we have a grasp of the strategic plan for our business, and have clearly defined goals and objectives laid out, we don't always connect our daily actions with these. Customers need our attention right NOW. On any given day, our bosses may demand something new and urgent, which usually comes with a deadline. Depending on the sort of work we do, a typical day may find us juggling a half dozen balls in the air, with little time to breathe, never mind take a break for lunch.
How can Counsel help here? To understand this, we remind ourselves that at work and in all the other activities of daily life, we're called to do God's Will. Okay, so we're not always - perhaps hardly ever - sure about just what that might be in any given circumstance. Still, we can, by an act of our own will, determine that our every thought, word, and deed can and should conform to this Divine Will. With that sincere intention, we then proceed to do the best we can. As the Novena directs us: "About all these things, pray to the Most High, that He may direct thy way in truth."
Just as our natural common sense helps us make decisions and take action on the go, in the midst of the flow of our busy day , so too does the "supernatural common sense" that Counsel imparts help us as we work. For one thing, it reminds us of that primary, overriding importance of doing God's Will. It further helps focus and re-focus our attention and intentions throughout the day, no matter how busy we may be. With the Gift of Counsel, we retain the presence of mind to pray those little aspirations like, "All for Thee, Lord", "I love Thee, Jesus", "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph" or whichever you have in your personal spiritual tool kit. These isolated moments of brief, sincere prayer steady us even as we're pulled in so many directions. As God sees and hears us every moment, He grasps our intention immediately and will send us the graces we need in that moment.
A quick example: Our natural common sense might help apply our knowledge and understanding to solve the formulas to that complex spreadsheet assigned to us by our boss. Counsel's supernatural common sense reminds us to both offer up any difficulties we encounter as we diligently press on to meet our deadline, produce excellent work, even as we treat those around us with both professional consideration and personal charity. That's how we transform a job well done into one done for the greater glory of God.
Next time, we wrap up our application of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit to our work by considering the Gift of Wisdom. Meanwhile, let's together pray these simple, ancient words to the Holy Spirit today:
Today we consider Counsel, beginning with how this gift is presented to us in the Novena to the Holy Spirit:
"The gift of Counsel endows the soul with supernatural prudence, enabling it to judge promptly and rightly what must be done, especially in difficult circumstances. Counsel applies the principles furnished by Knowledge and Understanding to the innumerable concrete cases that confront us in the course of our daily duty as parents, teachers, public servants, and Christian citizens. Counsel is supernatural common sense, a priceless treasure in the quest of salvation. About all these things, pray to the Most High, that He may direct thy way in truth.'"
After our discussion of the Gift of Knowledge and Understanding, we find ourselves in the position of how to apply these Gifts in our daily lives, which includes our work. And, lo and behold, our gracious Holy Spirit provides just what we need: the Gift of Counsel, which "applies the principles furnished by Knowledge and Understanding to the innumerable concrete cases that confront us in the course of our daily duty..."
As we've noted before, we need a kind of supernatural sensibility in order to see things as God intended them to be seen. We get this from Counsel. With it, we can "judge promptly what must be done" because we have the perspective of seeing all things as God sees them. Of course, we're not seeing things from the Divine perspective exactly as God sees them. We have to remember that we grasp reality through an intellect darkened by our fallen human nature. Our perspective is therefore somewhat limited.
One way to understand our limited perspective here might be to see ourselves as soldiers at war. (We are, after all, always engaged in a kind of war with the world, the flesh, and the Devil, right?) Even though our generals devise a strategy to engage and defeat the enemy, once we're in the thick of the battle, our world consists of just what we see, hear, smell, taste, and feel around us. We can use our minds to try to grasp what's happening, but our immediate surroundings restrict and dim our view. We simply can't helicopter up and over the action, clear away the smoke and fire, and see everything clearly. Heck, even generals can't always know everything going on during a battle. They refer to this dilemma as the "fog of war."
Applying this to our daily work, it's so easy to be lost in the weeds of our daily grind. Even if we have a grasp of the strategic plan for our business, and have clearly defined goals and objectives laid out, we don't always connect our daily actions with these. Customers need our attention right NOW. On any given day, our bosses may demand something new and urgent, which usually comes with a deadline. Depending on the sort of work we do, a typical day may find us juggling a half dozen balls in the air, with little time to breathe, never mind take a break for lunch.
How can Counsel help here? To understand this, we remind ourselves that at work and in all the other activities of daily life, we're called to do God's Will. Okay, so we're not always - perhaps hardly ever - sure about just what that might be in any given circumstance. Still, we can, by an act of our own will, determine that our every thought, word, and deed can and should conform to this Divine Will. With that sincere intention, we then proceed to do the best we can. As the Novena directs us: "About all these things, pray to the Most High, that He may direct thy way in truth."
Just as our natural common sense helps us make decisions and take action on the go, in the midst of the flow of our busy day , so too does the "supernatural common sense" that Counsel imparts help us as we work. For one thing, it reminds us of that primary, overriding importance of doing God's Will. It further helps focus and re-focus our attention and intentions throughout the day, no matter how busy we may be. With the Gift of Counsel, we retain the presence of mind to pray those little aspirations like, "All for Thee, Lord", "I love Thee, Jesus", "Jesus, Mary, and Joseph" or whichever you have in your personal spiritual tool kit. These isolated moments of brief, sincere prayer steady us even as we're pulled in so many directions. As God sees and hears us every moment, He grasps our intention immediately and will send us the graces we need in that moment.
A quick example: Our natural common sense might help apply our knowledge and understanding to solve the formulas to that complex spreadsheet assigned to us by our boss. Counsel's supernatural common sense reminds us to both offer up any difficulties we encounter as we diligently press on to meet our deadline, produce excellent work, even as we treat those around us with both professional consideration and personal charity. That's how we transform a job well done into one done for the greater glory of God.
Next time, we wrap up our application of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit to our work by considering the Gift of Wisdom. Meanwhile, let's together pray these simple, ancient words to the Holy Spirit today:
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy Love.
Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created.
And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth.
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