By Demi Prentiss

The Theology of Work Project website is a blessing to many of us, offering a blog, Bible commentary, devotionals, and lots of resources for people who try, daily, to bring Jesus to work with them – whether that work is unpaid, paid, volunteer, barter, or involuntary. A recent ToW blog post invited readers to pay attention to whether their words are a blessing or a curse to the people around them.  The writer invited us to reflect on whether our words participate in God’s work of reconciliation.

The blog offered five instances where our words might be a blessing:

• • • Expressing welcome
    • Eliminating blame shifting
    • Reconciling broken relationships
    • Taking care not to judge
    • Showing appreciation

Looking beyond that list, there are ways that our words can, without sermonizing, witness to the sacramental presence of Christ in our work:

• • • Claiming our work for the common good – “It’s important for each of us to contribute and each of us to do our best. That’s what makes our team strong and our work rewarding.”
    • Encouraging – “Let’s take a fifteen-minute break and then get this section finished so we’ll be ahead of the game tomorrow.”
    • Claiming grace – “Well, I sure wish we hadn’t made that mistake. Now that we’ve figured out how to do better, let’s support each other so we can move forward.”
    • Expressing joy – “Wow! What a great day. I wouldn’t trade anything for seeing how happy Mrs. Smith was with our work.”

We don’t need to think we’re bringing God to our work – God’s already there, ahead of us. We claim the blessing of our work by noticing where the Spirit is moving and by participating in every way we can.