Jonathan Golden's Blog: Inklings, Coffee, Redemption.

Find Your Work (Your Work Finds You)

Abraham Maslow shared that finding your work is much like finding a mate. You are called to it and it is called to you. Yet many of us do not allow ourselves to interact with our work, to be with it.  Without giving ourselves time to be with the work before us, we don’t give ourselves the chance to discover it nor for it to discover us.  It may seem a bit odd to talk of work discovering us, yet if we were designed in a particular fashion--to live and use our talents in a particular manner--it would seem fit that there are particular works waiting to interact with us.

 

Just as God created order out of chaos, there are particular orderings that we are meant to do.  As we engage in this work, the work uncovers a passion or talent within us that is waiting to be discovered or worked out. So just as we discover our work and participate in the ongoing process of bringing order out of chaos, our work discovers us and helps us to uncover that within us that needs to make an imprint on the world.  This has been true for me.

 

What are you working on today?

What gifts or talents within you are being worked out?

 

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

 

Jonathan

Back At It

This morning I made it back to Lifetime Fitness to workout.  It had been almost two weeks since my last visit.  My life has been busy; work has been extremely hard, finances have been tight, and I stopped doing what I know I should do (and need to do). 

When I workout, my weight is good, I’m focused, I need less sleep, and I feel good.  When I don’t, I get a pain in my shoulder, I feel sluggish, and I start to get a bit of a belly.  I’ve also been kind of a grouch for the past two weeks. 

Today, though, I was back at it.  I went to the club feeling a little apprehensive, a little out of it, but from the start I knew what work I had to do.  I did my core exercises and then went to the bench press.  I saw the guy who always nods and had a chat with him. Then the girl with a tattoo and the ACDC t-shirt smiled big and asked how I was.  After another set or two, my friend in the telecommunication business saw me and said hello.  Mike, the oil importer who frequents the Coffee House, walked over and we had a chat.  Soon my workout was over (in spite of all the conversation), and in the locker room, two other friends asked me about the coffee business and another new one said he would like to have our coffee in his office. 

No one seemed to notice that I've been away. No one commented on the 15 lbs I've gained. I quickly fell back into the routine of my work--the workout I typically do every morning.

It was a great morning and a good day.  I’m back at it. 

It seems to me that the church should be this way.  When we drift away--whether it is for a few days, weeks, or months--we should be welcomed back.  We should quickly find that there is still a work to do and enjoy doing it.  If we’ve changed--if we’ve gotten out of routine or even sinned--our friends, our brothers and sisters at the church, shouldn’t even notice.  They should talk to us about life, encourage us, and welcome us.  Grace! 

Thanks to my friends at Lifetime. 

Get "back at it" yourself and encourage others to do so as well. 

Jonathan