Daily Devotion:

Title: Angels Don’t Eat

Date: January 01, 2013

Here’s an ancient Egyptian story re-told --
 
Brother John tired of weaving baskets to make a living at the monastery. He hadn’t left everything – his family, his home, his friends – to weave baskets. He joined the monastery to pray, but little time was spent praying. He went to the abbot, saying, “Abba, I’m leaving to go into the desert to pray fulltime.” The Abba said, “Go pray.”
Three nights later, after bedtime, there was knocking on Abba’s door.
 
“Who is it?” Abba sang.
 
“It’s me, Brother John. I’m hungry. Let me in.”
 
“Brother John?!” Abba said. “I once knew a brother John -- a most amazing man. He left to become an angel, to live in the desert, to pray fulltime. He never needed to eat, so he didn’t have to work. Are you his angel?”
 
“I’m not an angel. I’m brother John. I’m hungry.”
 
“If you really are brother John, and not an angel … then, I wonder, will you work to eat?”
 
“I’m sorry, Abba; I was wrong -- to pray, one must eat; to eat, one must work.”
 
The Abba opened the door, saying, “Work can be prayer.” Brother John went inside, and later learned to weave the most beautiful baskets.
 
The spiritual life isn’t just naval-gazing in prayerful meditation.
 
Work’s necessary, and prayerful, if we’re open to God.
 
Let Us Pray: Dear God, grant us work, at a livable wage, with time in our lives for our needs, and time to raise the kids, with hope for a better future. Be with us at work. Amen.
 
Here’s a Morsel: When working, keep God in mind.