A Brief Meditation On Heaven to Keep Us Spiritually Grounded at Work

We've looked at the first three of the Four Last Things (Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell) to see how meditating on these keeps us spiritually grounded at work. Last time was Hell's turn. Harrowing, but effective, I thought, in firing up the desire to be spiritually alive and kicking at all times, including while at work. At best, our awareness of the horror of Hell will spur us on to a greater desire to keep God by our side at all times. Such a complete awareness of His Presence foreshadows an eternity with Him in Heaven. With a firm grasp of the glory of Heaven implanted in our minds, Hell should be out of the question.

So finally we arrive at Heaven, the culmination of and reward for our spiritual struggle in this life on this earth. As mentioned last time, Death and Judgment will come to us all. We have no say in the matter. Hell and Heaven, on the other hand, will be our choice. Having plummeted to the depths of Hell, we arrive at Heaven - guided again by Father Joseph Schryvers:

“The judgment of the just shall be followed by Heaven. Heaven! The eternal possession of the Sovereign Good, the complete satiation of the soul by the inundation of infinite and substantial happiness; the accumulation of all that can render a human being happy! Heaven! The ineffable delights of the senses, the special reward for every little sacrifice, and every act of virtue. Heaven! The gratification of all the fondest desires of the soul, whose capacity for enjoyment will constantly expand and unceasingly be satisfied and never tire of enjoyment. Heaven! The delight of the intellect; the perfect vision of all the mysteries of the supernatural order; the knowledge of all truths of the natural order, with their causes and their mutual dependencies; the full revelation of the admirable ways of Providence in the government of the world, and in the conduct of each individual soul! Heaven! The joy of a heart plunged in an ocean of love, in the same love as the Blessed Trinity! Heaven! Family life, the company of angels and saints, of all that is most pure, most innocent, most loving, most amiable, and most holy; the presence of those who were relatives and friends here below; the presence of our unspeakably lovely Mother, the presence of Jesus, our Friend, our Brother, our God! Oh, truly, ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, what God hath prepared for those who love Him”! (Cor. 2:9) And this happiness will be mine in a few days! Let the world, with its illusions and vanity, vanish out of my sight. I belong to Jesus forever!”   

Incredible description, isn't it? It's worth reading again...and again. Each sentence builds on the last. Each on its own describes something wonderful. Then there's more and more and more. All together, Father has done a yeoman's job of giving us a glimpse of what awaits us - if we can manage to stay on course. Staying spiritually grounded at work can contribute mightily to our staying on course.

Of all the items Father lists, these seem to be especially applicable to our working hours:

The special reward for every little sacrifice, and every act of virtue

We can easily and constantly sacrifice at work. For example, we have our acts of mortification, avoiding gossip, willingly sharing credit with others, even if we've done the lion's share of work, giving a helping hand to colleagues who are struggling, refraining from unkind/uncharitable comments, to name just a few. All require a spirit of sacrifice in the face of the typical selfish impulses that come from our fallen human nature. All of these can be worked into our normal, everyday way of behaving at work. No special time commitment needed. So as busy as we may get, we can sacrifice.

We can even extend that spirit of sacrifice from the job to the practice of giving some of the rewards we receive for our work to others. Ideally we give some portion of our surplus. And if we're really on point in our spiritual life, we may even give of our substance. The choice is ours.

As for acts of virtue, each of our sacrificial acts will be "fueled" by a particular virtue. Besides those associated with our acts of sacrifice, we should also find integrity, honesty, prudence, temperance...a simple basic beginner's list to be sure and one that can be generously expanded.

When we consider that sacrifice and virtue really don't require us to break our stride even during the busiest work days, we have rich ingredients that can easily be added to our recipe for building and maintaining the solid spiritual groundwork that supports a day's work devoted to the greater glory of God.

Now, take the time to re-read Father Schryvers description of Heaven yet again, this time connecting what we can and, ideally, will be doing today at work that will nudge us closer and closer to our eternal reward. 

Our Father has prepared a place for us in Heaven. His Son suffered, died, and rose from the dead to pour forth the grace we need to continue our struggle in this life as we hope for Heaven. Their Holy Spirit dwels within us (as long as we are in the state of grace) throughout our work day to guide us, to enlighten our minds and our conscience, with His promptings.

With this vision of Heaven vivid and firmly implanted in our minds and hearts, we can pursue our daily duties with a diligence, exactness and fervor that comes with being spiritually grounded.

This glorious vision of Heaven should - no, will - provide all the spiritual grounding we will ever need to sanctify our work, bringing us step by step, day by day closer to Our Lord and to our eternal reward.