Work

“…then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:7).

Creation of Adam (Unknown)

I have always been a very busy sort of person.

When I first experienced my conversion, which occurred while I was praying for my little niece who was very very sick and in need of prayers, the Holy Spirit came into my soul.  The thoughts in my head changed so dramatically that I was completely overwhelmed by them because they were as nothing that I could ever come up with on my own.  One of the foremost thoughts that I had at the time was that my little baby who had died so many years before, before he was even born, was safe in Heaven.  And I thought – after years of anger at God – that God had given me a great gift by taking my child to Heaven before I was ready to let him go, because he is safe now (eternally) and it is his prayers for me (and for his brothers and sister and father) that will have any chance of redeeming us.  And yet, those thoughts were so foreign to me prior to that moment of conversion…

And during that initial flush to revelation, I thought to myself that I should have become a cloistered nun and devoted my life whole-heartedly to silent devotion of God.

Of course this is problematic for a person of my temperament.  I am after all, a very impatient person who is very unlikely to sit still and patiently spend my days in quiet reflection.  And at first this was sad for me.  I thought of the place that I might have been able to secure in Heaven if only I had a ore holy soul.  But the reality is that such a place was not available to me because I am not of that nature.  Instead, I was given work…  In Furrow at 482, Saint Josemaria wrote, “Work is man’s original vocation. It is a blessing from God, and those who consider it a punishment are sadly mistaken.”

And this work is God-like.  In the first pages of the Bible, God, Himself, worked…  He made Adam out of clay…

“…then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” (Genesis 2:7).

And I have been thinking about that today.  Because although I have not been called to the life of a reflective, I have been called to another life of work as a mother and wife.  I have been called to live in the world.  And though in those first days and weeks following my conversion it seemed to me that I had been denied some great gift in being given my temperament, I have come to see that God has set an example for me of holy work that I can do to through His own work…

And for that, I am eternally grateful.  Because it is the work which can save me…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.