The nation is slowly crawling its way back to work after christmas. The tinsel is starting to look slightly out of place, the presents losing their joy at every use, carols have gone off the radio, and even from our shops.

However it is with a sometimes heavy heart we start the commute again, what was a long crescendo at the end of the old year is now a very long year ahead. My calendar seemed to rejoice in reminding me that three hundred and fifty nine days remain in 2019. Paired with the reality of work that seems like a long slog ahead.

Christmas for christians is a time of rejoicing at the birth of Jesus but we have to catch the 7:35 out of X or Y station long before epiphany. However I think this loss of joy is partly because we celebrate the birth of our Lord and then act as if he is gone? Our lord is alive and involved in everything we do?

This is what St Benedict thought of how we should think about work.
“First of all, every time you begin a good work you should pray to him with total commitment to bring it to perfection, so that he who has already been kind enough to count us as his sons will never be disappointed by our doing wrong”. (The Rule of Benedict Penguin Classics) .

Why does St Benedict think this? Because he knows our Lord is alive and takes joy in every good work we do that we bring to him. However menial, in fact the most menial of tasks done for others, or for him reverberates around heaven forever.

Work done in the service of our lord never dies, and work done for others never dies. Our Lord see’s and rejoices in all of it, every second.

The Second degree of Bliss as Julian calls it.

As she says….
The second degree is that all the blessed in heaven will see that glorious gratitude of our Lord God, and God makes the soul’s service known to all who are in heaven.

So give all your work to the Lord, let him know your doing this for your family, and loved ones, that the commute is for his glory and done to perfection and that you KNOW he is alongside you every step of the way.

Remember even if your boss isnt grateful, our lord is, and his gratitude lasts forever. Because as we celebrate the birth of our Lord, he never left, he is alongside you right now.

All you have to do is give it to him.