Work
of Love
“No
matter what we do, we can make it our ministry. No matter what form our job or
activity takes, the content is the same as everyone else’s; we are here to
minister to human hearts. If we talk to anyone, or see anyone, or even think of
anyone, then we have the opportunity to bring more love into the universe.”
Marianne
Williamson (A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in
Miracles)
Kahlil Gibran,
the Sufi mystic, wrote, “Work is love made visible…When you work, you
fulfill part of earth’s fondest dream assigned to you when that dream is born.”
And Sarah Ban Breathnach, in Simple Abundance, said this fulfilling of the dream“occurs
when you work from the heart.” Some of the jobs we value least are far and
away the most important, as we discovered when the pandemic rendered us all housebound.
We gained a whole new appreciation for our hard-hit first responders, nurses,
and doctors, but also for delivery people, for the folks who pick up the
garbage, who repair the roads, who stock the shelves and check us out at the
grocery store, who see to it that our hospitals are supplied with PPE, and who
work in the kitchens of our food services—their ministry is caregiving. They saved
our bacon during the long months of pandemic isolation.
Even if
you are retired from employment, you may still have a ministry of work. I know several
people who have a prayer ministry; they daily pray for people who are sick, or
in trouble. We set up phone trees to call people who live alone; we deliver meals to
people who are sick or in need. Little Free Library boxes sprouted up in my neighborhood,
so that people could find a book to read while the public libraries were
closed. Some of us volunteered time at crisis center or 12-step help lines. Some
of us sang in choirs even when social distancing made it difficult.
We spend a full third of
our day working, and some of us spend much more. If we do not come to our work from
a place of love, we harm ourselves and others. And when we do work from the
heart, we serve others and ourselves, no matter what form our work takes. It’s as
simple as that.
Today is Labor Day. Some
of us are enjoying a break or an end-of-summer vacation. Let’s also take time
to consider how our work serves the world and how we can approach it as our personal
ministry. How can we use our God-given gifts to serve others? That’s what it’s all
about.
In the Spirit,
Jane
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