Seek the Special Graces of This Easter Season to Help Us Live the Life of Christ - 2

Last time we took a first pass at understanding exactly how each of us can live the life of Christ. Today we dig a little deeper.

Remember, our focus today will be how we can live the Life of Christ on the job; of course, we're trying to do this all the time. But the work day can present specific challenges.

For example, if we're busy working on an urgent project with an upcoming deadline that has a lot of moving parts, we might think we'd be fortunate just to completely tie everything in a neat bow on time. Who has time to see that our words and behavior reflect the Life of Christ? But that's a mistake, as we'll see.

The key here is to understand what living the Life of Christ really means. 

To start, it has to do with imitating Christ - in some way that may at the moment seem either vague or impossible. But our spiritual guide in this matter, Rev. George, Zimpfer, will help to clarify:

“‘Imitation of Christ’ does not mean that we must seek an exact parallel of incidents in our lives and that of Jesus. It means that we must strive to think and act according to His spirit, as we should judge He would speak and act or think in any given circumstances. The hundreds of expressions of our spirituality are our own, just as the events of our Lord’s life were peculiarly His own. His day was not as our day; His circumstances of life were not as ours. Yet he lived, and he asks us to live in like manner. It is an ideal, of course, and we strive to approximate it. We must look beneath the outward circumstances, the mere activities of Christ’s life, and try to discover the deep moral truths and principles which guided them. Most of our Lord’s life was unexceptional, if viewed only in these circumstances. He was not always working miracles, but he lived among men and women graciously. What made Him a Light among men, a Light that shone with ever increasing brilliance until today His figure stands as the greatest in human history, was His inner life, His spirit. He came not only as the Son of God; He came to us also as the Son of Man. He not only died for us, but He lived for us as well, to show us how to live.”

Some relief here, no? At least that was true for me when I read this.

I recall the first time I learned that Our Lord must be our example, that we must strive to be like Him in every way. I didn't react well. It just seemed utterly futile for a sinner like me to even think of imitating Jesus Christ, as I knew Him from the Gospels. So when I read these words, a glimmer of hope rose from ashes of almost-despair.

There's no question of seeking, as Rev. Zimpfer puts it, "an exact parallel." Frankly, it makes perfect sense. Let's use a quick work example to understand why.

In my profession, I have learned from both study and from other professionals who stood out from the pack. But I never tried to be just like them. I knew that made no sense. I wasn't them. So I sorted out what impressed me in their practices, even- to the extent I could discern this - their personalities. Over time, I took their good practices and applied them to my own practice in a manner that suited my personality. Indeed, if ever I tried to imitate them slavishly, I could feel immediately that something was off. 

This sort of learning takes time and requires close attention combined with mature discernment. But from that time, attention, and discernment eventually I could hone my skills and apply my experience in a unique manner.

(None of this is meant to promote myself as something special. It's just a way to show exactly how imitation can help us become competent and effective in our work.)

We are who we are, in a place and time chosen by God. He created us as unique individuals in His mysterious way. We were not produced by some sort of Divine 3-D Printer.

So Rev. Zimpfer urges us not to settle for some superficial imitation of this or that word or action of Jesus Christ. We need to spend time trying to understand this Divine Savior of ours, God and man. We must listen and look behind the words and actions to "discover the deep moral truths and principles which guided them." This is not some quick and dirty we can just slap together. (And isn't that true of any of the work we produce that is excellent?)

While I already knew I was supposed to imitate Christ, I found this most helpful and encouraging. Not easy, of course. But nothing worthwhile ever is, is it?

Happy Easter!