Once upon a time, there were two carpenters; framers to be precise. Each day they would arrive at the building site to pound nails, erect walls. The first, a glum man, was asked what he was doing. “I hammer nails,” he replied, looking sour. “Every day, hammer nails and more nails. Day in, day out, hammering nails. I hammer nails; I get paid.” His was a monochrome life.
The second carpenter was asked the same question. His eyes were alive as he drove each nail and erected a wall and put it in place. “I’m building a hospital!” he exclaimed. “In this hospital, people of our town will have access to the latest medical care.”
The seemingly mundane, repetitive activities of the day to day can drone us to sleep to the reality of the work and the presence of God in each task and moment. It is so easy to become focused on a single event or action and lose sight of its importance in the BIG picture. For example, in our home laundry seems to appear mysteriously. Even at those moments when I breathe a sigh of relief as the last load is taken from the dryer, I often discover yet another load or two to be done. It’s not rocket science or saving humanity from a plague or calamity. It’s open the lid, start the machine, add the detergent and the clothes, close the lid and wait to put them in the dryer. Repeat.
However, in this seemingly never-ending process, there is a meaning to it as well. Just as significant as building a hospital or a space shuttle, it is a gift toward a small community of love, my family. In doing the laundry, I am taking care of a task that needs to be done, one which contributes to the well-being of my family. It is part of a collaborative effort that we as a family build a healthy micro-community. A community where the youngest to the oldest are valued, and honored in their contribution (big or small) to making our family function in love.
This not only happens within our homes but in our places of employment. Can we see that even the most repetitive task, when done as an act of love, can contribute to the mission of our “company community” which will provide jobs and homes for our fellow employees, and products and services to help others in their day to day? More so, if we can see the significance of each task as an opportunity to demonstrate genuine, selfless love in our workplaces, they become like nails in the studs of the walls of the Kin-dom of God.
This is not without spiritual significance. In learning to love one another, sharing with one another, and serving one another,
we are becoming a living proclamation of the Kin-dom of Love. We become people who choose love over self-centredness, and this in itself demonstrates “the manifold wisdom of God that might now be made known through the church (read family, community) to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 3:10. They will know you are my followers because you love one another! (John 13:35)
Living a spirituality of Love in the “everyday life” is going through the motions of work and parenting with a vision of the big picture, the hospital building. If we can see the cleaning up, the laundry, the “parent taxi service,” the time for being family, and so on, that builds a healthy loving family, it is easier to have a spirituality of Love in the “everyday life.”
None of this will make any real sense to us unless we learn to see Jesus present with us in even the most mundane tasks and situations. Ask the Father for the grace to experience His love in whatever situation seems driest to you. Ask for the grace to see Him in every moment of every day, in your home, workplace, and the related tasks of each. Then be aware, watch and see what God does while remembering that every task we do for love’s sake is another nail in the walls which build the Kin-dom of God, we are co-creators, co-labourers - another step towards “your Kingdom come on earth as it is in Heaven!”
