Issue 366
Welcome to the 366th Edition of WORKTALKweekly there is now one for each day of the year including leap years! Visit the Archive for past Editions.
It is not always easy to grasp the powerful revolution brought about by the arrival of Jesus, Son of Mary, and Joseph as it was thought. This Advent season I am going to suggest four work-related revolutions, which accompany the meaning of the season.
Sometimes a real life event can take on the meaning of a metaphor and, in so doing, give you some wisdom for your week. One such event was the simple overbooking of a local hotel in the small town of Bethlehem; the hotel owner was dealing with a common work-related challenge of a rather too large work load. The Roman census had created a scenario reminiscent of a massive football game, or national holiday, resulting in all the accommodation being booked for the duration.
To be fair to the manager, he didn’t turn the pregnant woman away completely; he gave her some space in the outhouses while he concentrated on running his business in a boom time.
In so doing, he missed the greatest honour of his life; he managed to let the most remarkable event in human history pass him by.
Now the truth is, he didn’t know any better and hopefully, if he had, he would have acted differently. He did not let
Jesus be born right at the centre of his life and work, but continued to keep him on the periphery;the truth is that you and I do know better.
This event gives you the metaphor, because one of the central purposes of the arrival was to bring the life of God right into the centre of your life and work.
Your business is to let Jesus be born at its centre; your work is to let Jesus take his place right inside. The revolution brought in by the birth was to move religion from the edge to the inside; it only works from the inside out. Advent is not the announcement of a new system or code of practice; Advent is the arrival of an inner dynamic which works from your core to your behaviour. It is the dynamic which can become the driving force in your business.
It is tempting, during the boom time, to keep the baby in the outhouse, but the irony is that this only results in missing the greatest honour of your life.
The inn keeper had his reasons; you and I do not.
Luke 2:1-7
1 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2 (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register.4 So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5 He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6 While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no guest room available for them.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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