Job One
Spirituality for the “piety impaired” “Why would we want to look for God in our work? The simplest answer is that most of us spend so much of our time working that it would be a shame if we couldn’t find God there. A more complex reason is that there is a creative energy in work that is somehow tied to God’s creative energy. If we can understand and enter into that connection, perhaps we can use it to transform the workplace into something quite remarkable....” So says Greg Pierce, a Chicago publisher who is author of the article on page 12 of this issue. Pierce, who describes himself as “piety impaired,” says he buys into a spirituality of work that grows out of the work itself and connects with the God who is always present in our places of work. “This kind of spirituality,” he writes, “has little to do with piety and much more to do with our becoming aware of the intrinsically spiritual nature of the work we are doing and then acting on that awareness. Authentic spirituality – at least in the Judeo-Christian tradition – is as much about making hard choices in our daily lives, about working with others to make the world a better place, and about loving our neighbor and even our enemy as it is about worship and prayer.” His definitions: Spirituality: “A disciplined attempt to align ourselves and our environment with God and to incarnate (enflesh, make real, materialize) God’s spirit in the world.” Work: “All the effort (paid or unpaid) we exert to make the world a better place, a little closer to the way God would have things.” Spirituality of work: “A disciplined attempt to align ourselves and our environment with God and to incarnate God’s spirit in the world through all the effort (paid and unpaid) we exert to make the world a better place, a little closer to the way God would have things.” (God@Work)
Want the best job in the world? Examine your own skills and interests and see how they intersect with what God is doing to sustain human society and maintain the fabric of the world, writes Thomas Long: “Whether it is piloting a plane full of passengers from Minneapolis to Chicago, teaching a class of third graders, changing the diapers on a newborn, entering data into a computer, studying for a chemistry exam, or repairing a leaky faucet, the best work in life is work that we can understand as part of what God is doing in the world.” (Testimony: Talking Ourselves into Being Christian)
“What did you do at work today, Daddy?” Paul Cottle loved his job with a Canadian satellite company. He looked forward to Monday mornings. Then he learned that his employer was being sold to a corporation known for manufacturing land mines and cluster bombs. He wrestled with his conscience and decided “I just don’t want to be part of it.” So he quit. Other people might also face a dilemma if their work is seen to harm life rather than enhance it. Such decisions aren’t easy or black and white. Want a quick way to test your work? Here’s a two-part test that business professor Gerard Seijts uses in his management classes: 1. If your work was featured on the front page of the newspaper, would you be proud of it? 2. If you tried to explain your actions to your 10-year-old child, could you honestly sell it? (Globe & Mail) The Marketplace March April 2008
