Trying To Keep Lent No Matter What at Work
Keeping Lent at work has never been an easy endeavor. We've got to try to keep Lent no matter our circumstances..
But it can be a real struggle sometimes.
There's so much going on all the time. Simply being able to recollect thoughts in the midst of a busy day presents a constant challenge. And shouldn't we be especially recollected during Lent?
It's not like other times during the year. We're slowly, steadily making our way to Good Friday, and after that Easter. But Lent emphasizes that there's no Easter without Good Friday.
Good Friday will remind us of the greatest sacrifice anyone has or ever will make on our behalf. And so we unite ourselves in a special way to Our Lord on His Cross during Lent. Yes, we want to do this all the time. But there's no other time during the year that calls on us to make a special, even heroic effort to keep the Cross and all that it represents present to us.
It's a struggle to do so when you're meeting deadlines. Then there are the myriad other daily challenges that work brings with it. Some are simply recurring items - the sort we do virtually every day, sometimes without even thinking about them. Some are new projects or endeavors that require intense dedication.
Before get into some detail here, something simple but important "popped up" in my spiritual reading. It's basically the idea that we gain merit when we struggle, especially when we're really struggling, asking for God's help, and He seems to be ignoring us. It happens sometimes, doesn't it?
Maybe it happens this year during Lent. We plan and then execute an exquisite Lenten discipline. It includes fasting of some sort. The days roll on. We're feeling a bit - or even more than a bit - hungry. We've even managed to "fast" from some of our not-so-great behavior that sometimes shows up during the work day: a touch of laziness, procrastination, being sharp with colleagues who annoy us, etc. All of this has been tied up in a neat package. But the "cherry on top" isn't any sense of satisfaction. Our feelings turn to wondering if God has noticed, or even cares about all this. Why are we doing this!!!
It's not uncommon. We do carry our fallen human nature with us wherever we go, whatever we do. Simply acknowledge what's going on in our sometimes turbulent minds, bodies, and souls. And keep at it.
And let's not forget this when we try to keep Lent no matter what's going on at work. There's merit out there just waiting to be chalked up in our "Heavenly Scorecard." It will be there when we finally, with God's grace, get to Heaven.
But merit is a subject unto itself. Let's get back to the subject at hand. We were talking about the daily challenges we all face at work.
We mentioned deadlines. They come and go all the time, some more pressing than others. The pressing ones in particular can distract us from whatever Lenten discipline we're trying to practice during the work day. A simple example:
Let's say we're determined to delay eating lunch for 3 or 4 minutes after saying grace. (If you haven't tried this, it sounds easy, but it's not.) We're facing a pressing deadline. We just want to get lunch over with, or maybe we're working while eating lunch. It's really easy to excuse ourselves of the delay. "I can't afford those 3 minutes of delay. I've got to get through lunch as quickly as possible!" - or something like that.
It seems trivial, but really it's not. Little things are what builds up our strength. Those of us who do regular exercise, or try to eat in a healthy way have learned this. You do a little each day. The results follow. The same is true for our spiritual life.
Or maybe we really want to be considerate to all our colleagues, especially that individual who just somehow grates on our nerves, for whatever the reason. And as we're frantically trying to get this task or project completed on time, they come up to us with some lame question or comment, even just in passing. It's tempting to be rude, or ignore them, or let them know how busy we are in a curt manner. And maybe they really should be more considerate of our time. But if we wait for everyone else to behave the way they should, how do we build up our own virtue of charity? It's similar to the point about merit.
Again, we might pass this off as a small thing. Maybe we didn't even display our relatively uncharitable thoughts. They remained unexpressed outwardly. But inwardly, we know. And inside, in many ways, counts more than outside.
Next time we'll discuss something "big" that's presented itself as a special challenge to keeping Lent this year...
We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee
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