God in the Factory

I came to the realization of something this week, something extraordinary for me, something I've not experienced in years: I'm actually content with my life right now. I know, I know: stop the presses, right? Can I be honest with you? I can't remember the last time I was content with my life. The last year has been one long, seemingly unending nightmare of criticism, lies and vilification, with a dash of not making enough money to pay the bills, and a sprinkle of not having a clue what God was up to. I still don't know what God is up to, but I'm content with that. I like my job. I'm starting to pray more and worry less about the outcome of my prayers. I'm starting to focus less on myself and more on the people around me: family, friends and coworkers. Here is the greatest part of the whole contentment thing: I have an increasing awareness of God's presence all around me, especially in the factory. While I'm sure that God isn't unionized and working the line or anything, He is present nonetheless. It's obvious. I can't just right it off. I'm content with my line job, something I never would have pictured myself doing or being okay with. I actually don't mind going to work, even at 6 in the morning. I find myself praying at work, listening to God, meditating on Scripture, running random God-thoughts through my head. I find that worship songs are constantly running through my head. God is blessing the work of my hands. After only two weeks, the supervisors are talking about making me a team leader. This is all good. But the deciding factor in my awareness of God all around me is this constant feeling that there is an "Other" surrounding me, subtly, but truly present nonetheless. It's this "Otherness" that I can't explain, but that is simply too real to ignore and write off as emotion. Vocabulary fails when trying to explain it; I simply just experience it and trust that you know what I'm talking about. It's as if I'm contained within Something, like the feeling of being gently wrapped in a warm blanket. It is the reality of the passage in Acts that says, "In him we live and move and have our being." It's what Brother Lawrence called "practicing the presence of God." It is me living in the present moment, not looking ahead or behind, just simply taking in each moment as something holy and good and right, knowing that God has me exactly where he wants me. I don't have to force anything, push to understand Him or pull away in an attempt to go it alone. I just simply have to be in the moment. God tells Moses in Exodus to "Come up on the mountain and be here." Basically, "don't come up here, Moses, and immediately start thinking about how you're going to get back down, what the people are doing down below, or anything else for that matter. You come up here and be present in this one moment with me. I want all of you, every part of you, right here, right now."

And all of this is happening in a factory, working twelve hour shifts, and doing demanding, physical labor. I didn't experience this kind of Presence while working in a church (go figure). I've not experienced anything like this perhaps ever before in my life.

And I am happy.

May you find contentment in the present moments of your life.

shalom, matt