Journal of Sacred Work

12:4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 12:5 and there are varieties of services, but the same Lord; 12:6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who
activates all of them in everyone. 12:7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common
good. 1 Corinthians 12:4-7

  During a meeting a few years back with two veteran obstetricians, I asked each what had drawn him to his field of practice. "I love delivering babies," the first said to me with warmth and enthusiasm. "I’ve been doing it for twenty-five years and each birth is still an exciting experience."
   The other obstetrician, also a veteran of twenty-five years, looked at his colleague with tired eyes and then said to me. "I deliver babies because it’s something I can do."
   What causes some caregivers to revel in the opportunity they have to "manifest the common good" while others view their work with a certain sullenness?…

   These two physicians are both trained with the complex skills of a
doctor. Both are respected. One loves his profession, the other does
his work because he knows how. From the outside, their gifts look the
same. But my sense is that one was celebrating his God-given gift while
the other was on the edge of burnout.
   The language of the Apostle Paul to the nascent Christian church in Corinth comes to us as Scripture. Yet the message is something that can be appreciated outside a religious context.
   From an early age, we each sense that there are some areas where we are skilled and others where we are less so. As we learn to use our gifts through training and practice, a daily question sits beside us. How will our gifts manifest themselves for the common good? Many never engage this question. For them, work is work. It’s something you do as transaction in return for payment. For these, the gift may be expressed but I wonder if the light of God is engaged.
   Both doctors in the opening story have similar skills. One of them has something more. He doesn’t see himself as the one delivering the baby but as a participant in a magical event. Awed by the fundamental notion of birth, he has engaged God’s gift of passion and love whether he has done so by a religious pathway or not.
   I speculate that the other doctor’s eyes are dreary because he has failed to open them to the magic of his work. To revel in God’s Love, we need to recognize and accept our role to manifest that Love through the gifts we have been given.
   Love comes through us, not from us. As we engage our gifts for the good of others, we notice a certain joy. And that joy is what gives loving caregivers the gift beyond words.

Spiritual Practice: In meditation and prayer, reflect on the range of your gifts.

• Which of your gifts have you chosen to use?
• Which of your gifts may have remained dormant?
• How do you experience Love in the performance of your work on behalf of others?
• How is God’s loved expressed in this world through you? Through others?
• How might you live so that Love would become more manifest in your life?

-Erie Chapman