Staying close to God

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Anglewannabe

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Today at work we had a pot luck and could dress up. I decided to get into the spirit of it. It was a hard thing for me because I usually like to keep to myself at work. There were about 25 people at the pot luck and about 18 had costumes. Well…I won third prize Yeah. It was a good time. I was joking that since I spent $20 on my costume and won a $25 gift certificate I made a 25% return on my money.

On the outside everything was great but I came home exhausted and in a crabby mood. I watched the news and my blood just boiled listen to what was going on in the world and all the tragedies. I just could not figure out what was eating away at me.

And about 1 hour ago, it hit me. I did not feel God was with me all day. I almost felt like if I wanted to join in the fun, I had to leave Him out of it. Now, I know that is ridiculous because God probably wants His children to have innocent fun.

So I was wondering how people feel/follow God when they are not in prayer. How does one go about acting like a Christian when partaking in activities that are not wrong but not necessarily religious either?

Angie
 
We tend to forget in the moment, that God is always with us. God was right there with you, enjoying the day. You just forgot, that’s all. Don’t we all!! :pat some time or another!! :thumbsup:Peace.
 
We also tend to forget that everything we do is for God, not just praying. If you offer all your thoughts and actions to the Lord, it’s easier to remain conscious of His omnipresence. 🙂
 
It’s sometimes easy to be forgetful, or at least not mindful, of his presence. I like to keep a lot of reminders remind me - prayer cards of St Jude, and the Blessed Mother, a little prayer called 'The Working Girl’s prayer" that my mother kept with her in her office; and I bought these really pretty little decorative stones with inscriptions on them such as “with God all things are possible”.

Some offices would frown on the above, so be careful before having any open displays of faith. But for me it’s been really helpful in becoming more mindful of His constant presence in my life.
 
DeniseNY said:
Some offices would frown on the above, so be careful before having any open displays of faith. But for me it’s been really helpful in becoming more mindful of His constant presence in my life.
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I just keep some blessed salt in a drawer. If anyone sees it they just might think it is odd that I have a salt shaker at my desk, but outwardly, the religious evidence in no evident. When no one is looking a put some around my chair.
 
I’ve found the book, “The Practice of the Presence of God” (by Brother Lawrence, a 17th-century monk), to be a very helpful aid to meditating on God in the midst of the mundane.
 
i find the phrasing odd, “how does a Christian act…?” How does anJew act? How does a Mexican act? It sounds off, doesn’t it?

We are talking about business and social interactions. God doesn’t have to be overtly top of mind every minute of every day. You don’t ask, “how would a Christian write this Excel macro?” Do you? No, you just write the macro like any other person.

If you are a Christian, you know how to act in social settings: with kindness. You just be yourself!
 
Knowing you struggle in social situations, are you getting any coaching from a counselor or someone else?

Typically one would take social cues from those around them. You seem to have done that: brought a pot luck item, dressed up, and won the contest. Sounds to me like you were acting just fine.

Introverts are often exhausted by social interaction, so on days you know this will be the case-- such as a special party day at work-- get plenty of rest the night before and plan alone time for that evening after.
 
Anglewannabe said:
I just keep some blessed salt in a drawer. If anyone sees it they just might think it is odd that I have a salt shaker at my desk, but outwardly, the religious evidence in no evident. When no one is looking a put some around my chair.
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Where do you get blessed salt?
 
1ke said:
You don’t ask, “how would a Christian write this Excel macro?” Do you?
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Of course not.
1ke said:
No, you just write the macro like any other person.
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This is where I slightly disagree. In MY ideal situation, contrary to the average person, before starting to write the macro I might say in my mind ‘Lord, I offer up this work in thanks giving for my ability to understand macros’ And if I am stuck on something I might on the outside look like I am in deep though but I am probably praying ‘Lord, am I suppose to stretch myself and learn or be humble and ask for help, please guide me’. Of course that is my ideal scenario, I don’t do it every day.
 
Anglewannabe said:
Of course not.

This is where I slightly disagree. In MY ideal situation, contrary to the average person, before starting to write the macro I might say in my mind ‘Lord, I offer up this work in thanks giving for my ability to understand macros’ And if I am stuck on something I might on the outside look like I am in deep though but I am probably praying ‘Lord, am I suppose to stretch myself and learn or be humble and ask for help, please guide me’. Of course that is my ideal scenario, I don’t do it every day.
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Well, in that vein you could also offer up the party-gathering-the joy of the day, to Jesus, and when you get home thank Him for all the blessings of a good day… Jesus loves you even when you are having fun, just as He does when you are sleeping. THE JOY OF THE LORD in that you thought of Him at the start of the day and at the end. Peace and prayers for you.
 
DaddyGirl said:
Would a Christian act differently at a Halloween party than a non-Christian?

.
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Emphatic 'YES". My costume covered me from head to toe and was loose fitting. Other women had costumes that were way to sexy IMO
 
Anglewannabe said:
Emphatic 'YES". My costume covered me from head to toe and was loose fitting. Other women had costumes that were way to sexy IMO
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The decision to dress in a sexually provocative way is not just impure, but a very bad idea around people you’d like to see you as professional. Showing you have an imagination and a sense of humor that doesn’t forego self-respect is important, even in a secular world.

I would not immediately conclude the answer you seized upon is the correct answer or at least not that it is so simple. It could have been that you were exhausted by the situation, which probably seemed fraught with ways to take a wrong step. Your feeling of spending the day without God may have been as much the feeling that you were not in an environment of acceptance and mercy. Maybe this is not true, but I’m talking about how you felt. You’re new at this job, and you don’t know how to take everyone yet, nor how they’ll take you. That is very tiring, like finding your way around a new city when you don’t trust your map, aren’t sure you understand the culture, and don’t know where the bad parts of town are. You would be tired after all that. I’d chalk up your crankiness to your body objecting to what your emotions have been doing to it all day.

If you think you’d do better at work if you re-directed yourself to God over the course of the day, you might want to look into the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, especially the Examen. That might be the sort of thing you are thirsting for. Part of what you are looking for, however, is a way to let go of anxiety. Anxiety eats a person up, yet doesn’t achieve anything. You may need some guidance about how to concern yourself with the right things and to keep yourself focused on them as the day goes by without worrying about them.
 
Here’s a story that I think I’ve posted here before, but it’s so cool it bears repeating. 😉

There was a young saint at a seminary. IIRC, this was Don Bosco–I heard this story years ago during a sermon, but don’t remember the specifics.

At one point, during recreation hour (recreation is when, in a religious community, you relax with your community, do fun things, talk, etc), Don Bosco was playing pool with his seminarian friends. As he did so, one seminarian asked what they’d all do if they knew the world would end in an hour.

One person said he’d run to Confession. Another said he’d be on his knees the whole time, praying. Still another said he’d start reading Scripture, and not stop until the final trump.

The saint said, “I’d keep shooting pool.”

They all looked at him, stunned.

He explained: “Today, I went to Mass. I’ve been to Confession. I’ve prayed and studied and gone to class. I had lunch when I was supposed to, and now I’m at recreation. Right now, my duty in life is to be at recreation, and I choose to spend recreation shooting pool. If the world ended right now, God would find me doing what I’m supposed to be doing.”

Short version: just because a given activity isn’t spiritual itself doesn’t mean you can’t be drawn closer to God by doing it if that’s what you’re supposed to be doing right then. In your case, your “job” was to go to this party and be pleasant to the people around you, helping them to have a good time as well. Did you do that? If so, then you were doing precisely what God wanted, even if it didn’t “feel” spiritual at the time.
 
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