The struggle to keep focused on God and doing God's work is won in small spaces and fleeting moments as much as in the Great Works and big plans.
Guys around the table gave several related illustrations of this moment of meaning when one person can touch another person for the good of God:
C. said: When talking with person he listens with his heart -not what the person is telling or asking, but just how they are being; what their overall place in life seems to be; if they are hurting in some way.
J. said: Some people do not lie down for bed or get up in the morning without praying as a reminder of what is uppermost amid the details of one's life.
A. said: He likes to hold the door and urge a person inside with the phrase "beauty before age" and that surprising gift of praise sets a person off balance sometimes, causing a smile that is authentically felt and given back.
These examples reminded me of the power of a small phrase learned in a parenting class: when a child makes a demand or objection, "that may be so" is a small but redirective phrase that works like judo by taking the energy of the person and steering it out of the way. Similarly a small decision or incident or unexpected turn of events can have far-reaching unintended consequences that set a project or relationship off course: the phone call that comes in just as you prepared to leave the house caused a momentary delay in departure and therefore a road accident or avoidance of one further in the sequence of events that followed, for instance. The well worn historian's illustration of the loose hoofnail leading to the king's horse throwing a shoe and altering its performance on the field of battle is another example of a small action, word or look that can redirect things.
By being aware of such small ways all around us, we can materially shape ourselves and those around us. This much, at least, is in each person's hands; while the Big Works may be out of one's reach.
Somehow one has to break the compartmental week so that God is everywhere and everyday.
Guys around the table gave several related illustrations of this moment of meaning when one person can touch another person for the good of God:
C. said: When talking with person he listens with his heart -not what the person is telling or asking, but just how they are being; what their overall place in life seems to be; if they are hurting in some way.
J. said: Some people do not lie down for bed or get up in the morning without praying as a reminder of what is uppermost amid the details of one's life.
A. said: He likes to hold the door and urge a person inside with the phrase "beauty before age" and that surprising gift of praise sets a person off balance sometimes, causing a smile that is authentically felt and given back.
These examples reminded me of the power of a small phrase learned in a parenting class: when a child makes a demand or objection, "that may be so" is a small but redirective phrase that works like judo by taking the energy of the person and steering it out of the way. Similarly a small decision or incident or unexpected turn of events can have far-reaching unintended consequences that set a project or relationship off course: the phone call that comes in just as you prepared to leave the house caused a momentary delay in departure and therefore a road accident or avoidance of one further in the sequence of events that followed, for instance. The well worn historian's illustration of the loose hoofnail leading to the king's horse throwing a shoe and altering its performance on the field of battle is another example of a small action, word or look that can redirect things.
By being aware of such small ways all around us, we can materially shape ourselves and those around us. This much, at least, is in each person's hands; while the Big Works may be out of one's reach.
Somehow one has to break the compartmental week so that God is everywhere and everyday.
