Issue 178
At the beginning of your working day you will probably encounter the news in some form or other: the newspaper as you sit/stand on a train, bus, or tube, the radio in your car/kitchen/headphones or your screen via your mobile/laptop or TV. You’ll not need to be fully awake to notice that there is a huge amount of conflict in the world. Wars, skirmishes, insurgencies, gang rivalries, and crime combine to create a profile of our planet which is struggling to live with itself.
When you arrive at work with the noises of conflict ringing in your ears you may well at some point in your working day have to deal with disagreements. People don’t see eye to eye, some want to take an eye for an eye, and others metaphorically want to give out a black eye! Even if you assert that your working environment is totally and permanently devoid of all conflict [I would check that you have not overslept for you may be dreaming], then cast an eye inside your soul and see if all is calm.
Today’s working world is populated with people who experience inner struggle, personal conflict, and self-doubt. There is an anxiety, tension, and worry which is labelled as stress in a large percentage of the workforce. The chances are that you are or have been in that percentage. In a commodity-rich market and an increasingly capitalist world we seem to be running low on one major resource – peace.
If you go anywhere near a carol service this year, you will hear Jesus of Nazareth described as the “Prince of Peace”.
Some people crave peace as an absence of noise, pressure, and demands; others long for a deep sense of inner calm which can strengthen them on a daily basis. When you get a break, go for a hike, retreat, or beach holiday you taste it, but like a vapour it disappears in the heat of your return to the daily, relentless work schedule.
This Prince of Peace however didn’t offer the peace of holidays or sleep. He didn’t suggest you run away and hide. His peace, he said, was unlike anything you can get in today’s world. He offered the peace of God to rule in our hearts and minds. It’s hard to understand, but he was and is offering the same internal peace that exists within the personality of God himself. God is at utter peace with himself, which is why he called himself “I AM who I AM” – iIt’s a deeply self-accepting peaceful state. Jesus offered this quality of peace to all who ask. No wonder he said you can’t get this anywhere else – it is literally out of this world.
…Except at the first Christmas. That night the Prince of Peace himself came into this world bringing with him the peace of God which goes beyond my ability to describe or yours to interpret – but you can taste it. When the Prince brings his peace into your life and work, he brings an internal order, calm, and assurance. He brings a type of integration which enables you to navigate the stormy seas of this world and it is a peace that lasts. I can’t describe it very well and I can’t get it for you. I know it and so do others but if you want it you will have to ask the Prince himself. He won’t leave you without it.
Happy Christmas and A peaceful New Year to all our WORKTALKweekly readers.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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