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God does not deflect our gaze prematurely from the work he himself has given us, since he presents himself to us attainable through that very work. Nor does he blot out, in his intense light, the detail of our earthly aims, since the closeness of our union with him is in fact determined by the exact fulfilment of the least of our tasks…God, in all that is most living and incarnate in him, is not far away from us. altogether apart from the world we see, touch, hear, smell and taste about us.
Rather he awaits us every instant in our action, in the work of the moment. There is a sense in which he is at the tip of my pen, my spade, my brush, my needle—of my heart and of my thought. By pressing the stroke, the line or the stitch, on which I am engaged, to its ultimate natural finish, I shall lay hold of the last end towards which my innermost will tends…
Try, with God’s help, to perceive your connection—even physical and natural—which binds your labour with the building of the Kingdom of Heaven; try to realise that heaven itself smiles upon you and, through your works, draws you to itself; then, as you leave church for the noisy streets, you will remain with only one feeling, that of continuing to immerse yourself in God…
Never, at any time…consent to do anything at all without first of all realising its significance and constructive value in Christo Jesu, and pursuing it with all your might. This is not simply a commonplace precept for salvation: it is the very path to sanctity for each man according to his state and calling. For what is sanctity in a creature if not to adhere to God with the maximum of his strength?—and what does that maximum adherence to God mean if not the fulfilment—in the world organised around Christ—of the exact function, be it lowly or eminent, to which that creature is destined both by natural endowment and by supernatural gift?
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
Le Milieu Divin
I love the way Teilhard de Chardin expresses this idea. It is not new, and may remind you as it does me of George Herbert’s ‘Teach me, my God and King’. However, while both are writing about, as it were, the Mary and Martha paths to salvation, there is an almost Hindu quality in the Chardin passage, recalling the Laws of Manu.
For me, reading this passage in June 2013, Chardin’s words resonate in the field of social media. He affirms (what I hope is true) that ‘works’ may include blogging and participating in social media generally if that is what you feel best able to do in God’s service.
The image is copyright: photobank.ch via Shutterstock
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