A Sunday Thought to Start the Week Off Right
Recently we talked about exercise as one important way to treat our bodies as what they were intended to be: Temples of the Holy Spirit. It's a topic on which we haven't spent much time in the past, but it deserves our serious consideration, so here we go again. This time, let's compare our efforts to improve our bodies with our work and our spiritual lives.
While any sort of physical exercise seems better than none at all, today we'll zero in on the concept of "no pain, no gain." We'll see how "no pain, no gain" plays a role not only in our physical exertions, but in our work lives and, more importantly, our spiritual lives. Before we start, a word to those of you who might be wincing at the thought of inflicting pain on yourself: the pain to which we refer here has more to do with effort, even extreme output. Sometimes such effort involves discomfort. At least that's true of physical exercise and our work. When it comes to our spiritual lives, we'll see that pain sometimes means just that: pain.
Starting with exercise, maybe the idea of "getting outside your comfort zone" can expand our understanding of pain here. As a general rule, if we only do that which is comfortable all the time, we make no progress; we won't really improve much. An example regarding exercise might be jogging. For years I jogged. There was certainly a benefit derived from this activity. It was better than nothing. But after a time, my body got used to the routine. I did my few miles and that was that. Not that it's easy to get up early and get out there, especially when it's cold or the weather's inclement; but your body gets used to things you do routinely, over and over again.
It's important that we understand this. Physically, especially as we age, the body loses its "luster" even for those of us who exercise, unless we get outside our comfort zone. We might think of "luster" not so much as appearance here, but as some combination of strength, flexibility, and endurance. If you just jog the same distance over and over, and do nothing else, you might enhance your endurance, but it doesn't do much for overall strength and flexibility. For that you need to engage in other forms of exercise. Besides, even the endurance you gain from jogging will more or less plateau unless you challenge yourself from time to time. Even worse, it will likely reverse as a result of the aging process. For all these reasons, and more, it's really important that we get outside our comfort zone when we exercise.
The same holds for our work lives. At work, if we're stuck in a dull routine of mindlessly engaging with our daily tasks, our work loses its luster. And if we're striving to work for the greater glory of God (and that's how we should work each day), the work we do should positively shine. Whether the rest of the world recognizes this or not isn't as important as what God sees as a result of our faithful and diligent execution of our appointed duties each day. Attention to detail, completing projects on time, actively seeking ways to improve the results we achieve by striving for excellence as well as increased efficiency all add to the luster of our work.
Just as any business that does not grow will inevitably, over time, shrink, so will our work skills stall or even diminish unless we challenge ourselves. Get outside your comfort zone. Strive to get a little better every day. Invest in yourself: learn new skills; perfect those you possess. While you're at it, extend yourself by avoiding gossip, being charitable to all with whom you come into contact - fellow workers, customers and, yes, even that boss who can be a bit overbearing at times. Maybe you can even muster the gumption to tackle that dreaded project without procrastinating, even with outright enthusiasm. These are just a few ways to get outside your comfort zone at work.
We can similarly apply this reasoning to our spiritual lives.
Since today is Sunday, let's consider attendance at Sunday Mass, a basic requirement of our Catholic religion. This can easily become just another "thing to do" on our weekend list. There's nothing wrong with getting to an early Mass so you can eat brunch with family and friends. But if Mass becomes something you "get out of the way" before going to brunch, it loses its luster. Ditto for any efforts you make to read good spiritual works, study the doctrines the Church teaches, read Scripture, visit the Blessed Sacrament, etc. The time you spend pursuing these pious acts should be thoughtful, not rushed. Pay attention to what you're doing. Don't just dash them off and get on with your day. Otherwise, you may feel like you're doing something while in fact you're simply spinning your spiritual wheels.
When I slip into this "pump it out" mode, I find turning my mind and heart to Our Lord on His Cross can shake me out of a routine or mechanized approach. You can just pick up your rosary, glance at the Crucifix, give it a gentle kiss and remember that He submitted to the agony of His Passion for you.
Which brings us now to the often real pain - not just discomfort - that will likely play a part of our progress in the spiritual life. It comes to some of us more than others. But it does and will come, at least from time to time, to all of us.
Why must we experience pain to make progress here? Simply remember that Our Lord tells us we must take up our cross if we wish to follow Him. For most of us, this doesn't entail inflicting pain on ourselves; but it does entail accepting the pain that comes to us in our daily lives. Whether physical, psychological, mental, or emotional, you know it when it comes.
There's much more we can say about the role of pain in our spiritual lives. Perhaps we can circle back to this in a future post. For now, though, let's take a few moments on this holy Sunday to assess our own situations and see where we might benefit from our understanding of the role of "no pain no gain" in our exercise, our work, and - most especially - our spiritual lives. Maybe this will be the week we get out of our comfort zone and add some luster to our lives.
Happy Sunday!
While any sort of physical exercise seems better than none at all, today we'll zero in on the concept of "no pain, no gain." We'll see how "no pain, no gain" plays a role not only in our physical exertions, but in our work lives and, more importantly, our spiritual lives. Before we start, a word to those of you who might be wincing at the thought of inflicting pain on yourself: the pain to which we refer here has more to do with effort, even extreme output. Sometimes such effort involves discomfort. At least that's true of physical exercise and our work. When it comes to our spiritual lives, we'll see that pain sometimes means just that: pain.
Starting with exercise, maybe the idea of "getting outside your comfort zone" can expand our understanding of pain here. As a general rule, if we only do that which is comfortable all the time, we make no progress; we won't really improve much. An example regarding exercise might be jogging. For years I jogged. There was certainly a benefit derived from this activity. It was better than nothing. But after a time, my body got used to the routine. I did my few miles and that was that. Not that it's easy to get up early and get out there, especially when it's cold or the weather's inclement; but your body gets used to things you do routinely, over and over again.
It's important that we understand this. Physically, especially as we age, the body loses its "luster" even for those of us who exercise, unless we get outside our comfort zone. We might think of "luster" not so much as appearance here, but as some combination of strength, flexibility, and endurance. If you just jog the same distance over and over, and do nothing else, you might enhance your endurance, but it doesn't do much for overall strength and flexibility. For that you need to engage in other forms of exercise. Besides, even the endurance you gain from jogging will more or less plateau unless you challenge yourself from time to time. Even worse, it will likely reverse as a result of the aging process. For all these reasons, and more, it's really important that we get outside our comfort zone when we exercise.
The same holds for our work lives. At work, if we're stuck in a dull routine of mindlessly engaging with our daily tasks, our work loses its luster. And if we're striving to work for the greater glory of God (and that's how we should work each day), the work we do should positively shine. Whether the rest of the world recognizes this or not isn't as important as what God sees as a result of our faithful and diligent execution of our appointed duties each day. Attention to detail, completing projects on time, actively seeking ways to improve the results we achieve by striving for excellence as well as increased efficiency all add to the luster of our work.
Just as any business that does not grow will inevitably, over time, shrink, so will our work skills stall or even diminish unless we challenge ourselves. Get outside your comfort zone. Strive to get a little better every day. Invest in yourself: learn new skills; perfect those you possess. While you're at it, extend yourself by avoiding gossip, being charitable to all with whom you come into contact - fellow workers, customers and, yes, even that boss who can be a bit overbearing at times. Maybe you can even muster the gumption to tackle that dreaded project without procrastinating, even with outright enthusiasm. These are just a few ways to get outside your comfort zone at work.
We can similarly apply this reasoning to our spiritual lives.
Since today is Sunday, let's consider attendance at Sunday Mass, a basic requirement of our Catholic religion. This can easily become just another "thing to do" on our weekend list. There's nothing wrong with getting to an early Mass so you can eat brunch with family and friends. But if Mass becomes something you "get out of the way" before going to brunch, it loses its luster. Ditto for any efforts you make to read good spiritual works, study the doctrines the Church teaches, read Scripture, visit the Blessed Sacrament, etc. The time you spend pursuing these pious acts should be thoughtful, not rushed. Pay attention to what you're doing. Don't just dash them off and get on with your day. Otherwise, you may feel like you're doing something while in fact you're simply spinning your spiritual wheels.
When I slip into this "pump it out" mode, I find turning my mind and heart to Our Lord on His Cross can shake me out of a routine or mechanized approach. You can just pick up your rosary, glance at the Crucifix, give it a gentle kiss and remember that He submitted to the agony of His Passion for you.
Which brings us now to the often real pain - not just discomfort - that will likely play a part of our progress in the spiritual life. It comes to some of us more than others. But it does and will come, at least from time to time, to all of us.
Why must we experience pain to make progress here? Simply remember that Our Lord tells us we must take up our cross if we wish to follow Him. For most of us, this doesn't entail inflicting pain on ourselves; but it does entail accepting the pain that comes to us in our daily lives. Whether physical, psychological, mental, or emotional, you know it when it comes.
There's much more we can say about the role of pain in our spiritual lives. Perhaps we can circle back to this in a future post. For now, though, let's take a few moments on this holy Sunday to assess our own situations and see where we might benefit from our understanding of the role of "no pain no gain" in our exercise, our work, and - most especially - our spiritual lives. Maybe this will be the week we get out of our comfort zone and add some luster to our lives.
Happy Sunday!
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