New Beginnings At Work

It's time for new beginnings at work. Why new beginnings? For one thing, we've basically exited summer. Sure, it technically continues until later this month. But we all know Labor Day marks the practical end. If you've got kids, school starts. (At least in these parts; some parts get the students behind their desks before Labor Day - an educational heresy for those of us who grew up in saner times.) Then there's the general sense of business picking up after summer vacations. Then there's the "re-start of the Rule of St. Benedict."

For those of us who read the Rule each day - a recommendation we've made many times - recall that the Rule traditionally has been repeated three times in the course of a year. The last leg starts on September 1st - fits in nicely with this new beginnings theme.

New beginnings represent something fresh. They provide a way to start over again - always good for us sinners for sure; but also a good shot in the arm when work slips into "same old-same old" mode - which can happen if we're not careful. And while we can brush this off as just the way things work at work, there's a danger we become less focused and float through our work-time without the attention to detail and striving for excellence that should characterize all efforts to work for the greater glory of God (never mind the requirements of our employment or, in the case of the sole proprietor, the demands of our business!).

So new beginnings: There's no better place to kick off our new beginning than by acknowledging God's Presence. Let's do this first, before we focus on details related to the specific work we do. Without God's Presence, all our efforts face the prospect of serving mammon only - not a pleasant prospect. 

You would think that God's Presence wouldn't be some sort of challenge. After all, many of us learned that the universe itself would simply evaporate if it were not sustained by God's Will. But we all know that it's a lesson we may have forgotten over time. Life gets in the way. Our obligations take up our time and attention. And the harder we work at meeting those obligation, fulfilling the duties of state of life, the more we may develop a false understanding that everything depends on us. It doesn't. 

Now, there are many ways we can acknowledge God's Presence during the work day. And we've spent considerable time and effort on this over the years. But we don't have time right now to review all that in the short time left for today's post. So how about we step back and allow Abbot Lehodey to give us the big picture. This should make God's Presence emerge effectively. We posted this on Sunday. But it's worth repeating and fits perfectly into our New Beginnings.

Note that the Abbot won't try to bang us over the head with what should be obvious to any self-respecting Catholic man at work. Instead, he paints a vivid picture of the deep, profound, all-important reality of God's Presence. 

“Whilst ruling the stars and presiding over the revolutions of the earth, He concurs with the ants in their labors, with the insects in their least movements, and with the countless millions of atoms constituting a single drop of water in their invisible activities. Without Him not a leaf can stir, not a blade of grass die, not a grain of sand be moved about by the wind. He keeps a solicitous watch over the birds of the air, over the lilies of the field; and as each of us is worth more than many birds, He does not forget His human children. A thousand details of daily life will escape the notice of the father of the family and the most attentive of mothers; but God in His infinite intelligence possesses the secret of providing without effort for the most trivial incidents as well as for the most important events. Yes, He has numbered the very hairs of our heads; not one of them can fall without the permission of our heavenly Father. And what can seem so insignificant as the fall of a single hair? Nevertheless, God thinks of it…And thus I, an insignificant atom in the great world, occupy day and night, always and everywhere, the mind and the heart of my Father in Heaven. Oh, how infinitely touching is this truth of our holy faith, how touching and how consoling!”

Appealing, to say the least, isn't it? Maybe even overwhelming. But, if so, doesn't that accurately capture the awesome reality of our universe as not only created but sustained by God? And it's not some "Clock-maker" who mechanically assembled and maintains everything, but a personal and loving God. And that loving God - indeed Our Father in every sense - has numbered the very hairs of our heads. 

He knows and loves each and every one of us. Not a moment passes when He is not fully attentive to us. Shouldn't we, likewise, at the very least, be fully attentive to Him?

Clearly, our new beginnings cannot get off the ground without Him.