Cultivating Spiritual Permanence 

God on Monday
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They shall be radiant over the goodness of the Lord. (Jeremiah 31:12)

Reflection

In our rapidly changing world, we crave permanence. Especially in the contemporary workplace, which can seem perpetually unstable, we long for a sense that all will be well. In the verse above, God addresses a people in exile feeling scattered and disoriented. He speaks to them of a deep reality that can be called spiritual permanence – a stabilizing vision of enduring goodness.

A good way to understand spiritual permanence is to consider object permanence. This is the developmental milestone young children reach when they realize that things continue to exist even when they cannot see them, or perceive them with their other senses. Before this feeling of permanence develops, there is more scope for anxious insecurity.

Spiritual permanence is an application of all this to our sense of God’s presence. It assures us, despite perceptions, that God’s good purposes prevail. It helps us realize that our lives, including our working lives, are part of a divine narrative, a redemptive drama, however disorientated we may feel.

During the Christmas season, we remember that Jesus left his home in heaven to enter a hidden corner of the world, to people under foreign rule who did not recognize their Maker. He brought God’s presence to those who did not believe in it because they could not see it.

When we are confident in God’s abiding goodness, no matter what we see or feel, our actions testify to a greater reality than can be perceived through our ordinary human senses. Even when we are overcome with a feeling of exile and of loss, we can participate in the life of an everlasting and unchanging God. This will help us become ’radiant over the goodness of the Lord’.

Response

When you face work difficulties this week, use your spiritual senses to perceive God’s enduring presence. Make a small act to honour that presence: extend kindness to a difficult colleague, bring patience to a stressful task, or pause to offer God your gratitude. 

Prayer

Lord God, meet me in the places in my work where I feel like I am in exile. Remind me that my work is woven into your story of goodness. Help me see that every task, however small or unseen, can be a response to your abiding and enduring presence. Anchor my heart in your unseen yet eternal love. Amen.

This Week's Author

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God on Monday is produced in partnership with the Church of England. The reflections are based on the scriptural readings designated for the next Sunday in the Church's lectionary. You can sign up here to receive each God on Monday instalment.

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