InSpiritry at Work
Posted by Anne McCrady
This morning was one of those days when I woke up with a sense of needing more than ever to make a difference in the world. Rising early, I decided to try to connect with people who use the internet as their call for help. Surfing Technorati, reading blog after blog of entries of folks I don’t know, I could almost hear people speaking their concerns out loud, like having a receiver tuned to the disparate voices in the digital cosmos.
One thing became perfectly obvious: there are a lot of folks who need to share their burdens: death, disappointment, failure, loneliness, inability to change, sickness, heartache, fear. Reading their very honest and open posts, I wanted to reach out to each one to lend encouragement or say the best thing we can say to one another, “Me too.”
Those thoughts led me to imagine God (let me say here I have no clear picture of what He or She looks like, only a hope that Someone is in charge!), receiving the millions of prayers and petitions we send up every day. Think about the noise! And what a frustration it must be to listen to all of our problems and wonder why we aren’t helping each other.
Back to my blogging… this morning I was taken, in particular, by the My Space thoughts of a young woman in the UK (On My Mind) who said she had recently taken to watching Christian television and was disturbed by the retail and entertainment nature of the speakers. While she is not, of course, the first one of us to be irritated by how faith is used for profit, she went beyond complaining to offer her suggestions for the role of our faith in our business lives.
Her ideas, while certainly not comprehensive, are rational, practical and, best of all, offer easy ways for us to be open to others. So I decided to share them. I hope you will consider your own work place as you read her reminders:
- We should return phone calls.
- We should visit the sick.
- We should write back those who email us as soon as we are reasonably able. (smile)
- We should make disciples.
- We should be good stewards of our resources.
- We should put no undue financial burden on the poor.
I don’t know about you, but I am indicted on more than one of these on a daily basis…and that last one is especially troublesome for most of the businesses I frequent. The good news is that living our faith or living for the Greater Good doesn’t have to mean leaving our personal lives to do exotic mission work. We can serve others right where we are!Think about how you act on your spiritual beliefs while you are at work — is it all about money or promotions or power or titles or profit… or are you taking care of the precious people whose paths cross yours every day?One of the basic ideas of InSpiritry is “compassion,” opening your heart to how other people feel. Today, I hope you will see each person you encounter as having their own needs and burdens, their own story, their own prayers and then:
- If someone seems unhappy, ask what you can do for them.
- When there is a disagreement, try to see the other side.
- If you have enough (time, money, joy), share a little.
InSpiritry calls us to inspire others to contribute to the Greater Good. Even while you are work –
You Can Be A Blessing!
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