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The Inner Voice
At the beginning of Lent I came across a reflection by Chiara Lubich which spoke of renunciation. She explains how according to the Gospel renouncing oneself is a condition for being a true follower of Christ.
To be a true follower of Christ naturally attracted me and I began to wonder how exactly I could live it. That day, as usual at work, I had a sandwich and salad for lunch and I did not want to reduce that in any way. All I could do therefore was to ask Jesus to give me hints during the day how I could put this renunciation into practice.
Later that the morning I received a phone call from a colleague who asked me to do a job which, in my opinion, was clearly her responsibility. An answer to that end was already on my lips when the word ’renounce’ came to my mind. I opted in favour of doing it for her without any ifs or buts.
I finish work 4.00 pm. At ten to four I had concluded my own work and thought to myself: ‘Better keep quiet and bide your time until 4.00… but again: “renounce yourself” was the answer of that little inner voice. I told my colleague that I was free to help her and indeed she was very glad and took me up on the offer.
That day Jesus taught me a good lesson: renouncing myself helps me to be free and open to loving when otherwise I wouldn’t be.
M.P. - Herts
The Office
I have been working for a small charity in London since July as a Temporary Administrator. I realised almost as I walked through the door that I was stepping into a very difficult situation. The staff of seven were working across three floors in a building that was cramped and dilapidated. Both the Chief Executive Officer and the PA/Office Manager had been on long-term sick leave since April. The day I arrived, a resignation letter was received from the PA/Office Manager whose work I was meant to be covering just for one or two months! I later discovered there had been seventeen Office Managers in three years before her. There was an office move planned for October which the staff did not agree with, a conference to be planned for November and no-one to organise it. The staff were extremely over-stretched, negative and frustrated in this uncertain situation and fuses were short between them.
I share an office with my boss, the reluctant Acting CEO, and with a part-time freelance fundraiser with whom I started to build a good relationship. I discovered that she also practices her faith. We decided we had to stay positive about the situation and encouraged one another when things were difficult.
At the end of last year my boss decided to hold an out-of-office planning meeting - something which I gathered was almost unheard of in the organisation. The staff were invited to suggest issues for discussion. As usual, the only response received was negative and cynical. The feeling was that a forward planning meeting was pointless given the list of uncertainties in the organisation. On receiving the response my boss also lost heart and was ready to cancel the meeting.
However, after discussing the situation with me and the freelance colleague, we managed to convince him that the meeting should still go ahead, but that it should be emphasised to staff that it was important to be positive and that negative comments would not be allowed. From then on the three of us would occasionally remind each other, when one or the other went 'down', to be positive.
On the day of the meeting, my boss welcomed everyone and I was surprised to read when he turned over his flipchart the ground rules he'd set out at the start of the meeting. ‘Be positive, not negative. Listen, respect. Find solutions, not problems. Look forward not backward.’
I really felt that this was taken on board by all the staff and there was a different atmosphere in that meeting in which each member of staff contributed constructive ideas for the future in an atmosphere of respect.
M.B. (London)
The Accident
A friend of mine with whom I try to live the spirituality of unity doesn’t have much money. One day she came to see me and during the conversation it emerged that she couldn’t afford the premium for her car insurance renewal. I was concerned about what would happen if she had an accident, and felt I had to do something to try and find the money needed to insure the car.
I shared the problem with other friends who also try to live this spirituality and one of them immediately offered to pay half the cost of the insurance. I didn’t really know where I would get the other half from, but I was certain that God would find a solution.
That evening I was feeling very tired and when my husband asked me if I would go with him to a charity event I really wanted to say no. But out of love for him I decided to go. They held a raffle during the evening, and even though I only bought one ticket, I won first prize! It turned out to be exactly the amount needed to pay for the other half of my friend’s car insurance.
A few days later that friend was involved in a road accident, in which her car hit another car causing quite a bit of damage. If the car hadn’t been insured, she would have had serious problems with the police.
J.O. London
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