A Resolution About Work When You Get Back in the Saddle After Labor Day
The week's been surprisingly calm and peaceful so far. Not that I'm surprised that the work has eased up. It's just that when you get used to working with deadlines and the occasional crisis, the lack thereof leaves you a bit out of kilter. But rather than focus on how unusual my present circumstances may be, it's best to simply thank God for the respite and enjoy the calmer moments that have greeted me this week. Duly noted. Enjoy it while it lasts. As for when I'm back in the saddle next week, here's a resolution that's taken shape in my relaxed mind this week that you might want to consider as you get back into the swing of things after Labor Day: Stop wasting time!
But we're not talking here about increasing efficiency, focusing on the task at hand, avoiding time wasting activities and, worse, people who waste your time - all good things in and of themselves. No, here we're talking about a particularly Catholic resolution of keeping your priorities straight at work.
You see, we Catholics understand - and should from time to time think about, meditate on - the fact that this world is a passing shadow. We weren't born to get rich, to succeed at our jobs, to find work we find "satisfying" or "inspiring," or even to build a cushion of security for ourselves and our families. We were born to know, love and serve God in this world, and to enjoy eternal happiness with Him in Heaven. So shouldn't that latter be our daily focus each day? Shouldn't that be our first priority?
If your daily efforts represent nothing more than working to amass riches, or even security, it leaves one with nothing to show either in the pursuit or the accomplishment of what should be our real priority. Meanwhile we go on believing our work is something really important; but thinking clearly about it, it’s not. In the end, the things for which we struggle at work pass away. The one thing that doesn't is us.
Ironically, we use the expression "pass away" (or these days, simply "pass") when we refer to someone who has died. But thinking about it, it's more like we pass through, this world, so to speak, and then emerge again. And when we emerge, we do so without a single stitch of anything we worked so hard for while we were alive. We take nothing with us.
Since nothing can be taken when our time in this world concludes, that which we pursued, that which we spent so much of our time getting, simply evaporates, at least as it “belonged” to us. The secular world believes that we evaporate, when it’s the things that were “ours” that really do evaporate. Of course, the material stuff might still be sitting wherever it is when we "pass," but it's not ours anymore. The material stuff sits and collects dust until someone claims it. At best, it belongs to our "estate," there to be doled out to whoever you name in your will. Indeed, your bank account immediately gets re-titled. Off goes your name and in its place the bank relabels it "Estate of (your name)."
Meanwhile, while our stuff is thus transformed in this world, we are transformed in a quite different manner. We become, in a sense, more real at death than during life in this world, and we take nothing but our souls into eternal life, which is that most real existence for which we were put her to prepare.
So that's why our resolution to stop wasting time has nothing to do with increasing efficiency, focusing on the task at hand, avoiding time wasting activities and people. We Catholics would do well to remind ourselves each and every day about our real priority in this world and go about our business each day with that priority front and center in our minds, not just something we recall when we have a few minutes of down time on our hands, as may be the case this week.
Resolve to thank God each morning for another day to know, love and serve Him. Then get on with whatever day's work awaits you. Otherwise, you're just wasting your time.
But we're not talking here about increasing efficiency, focusing on the task at hand, avoiding time wasting activities and, worse, people who waste your time - all good things in and of themselves. No, here we're talking about a particularly Catholic resolution of keeping your priorities straight at work.
You see, we Catholics understand - and should from time to time think about, meditate on - the fact that this world is a passing shadow. We weren't born to get rich, to succeed at our jobs, to find work we find "satisfying" or "inspiring," or even to build a cushion of security for ourselves and our families. We were born to know, love and serve God in this world, and to enjoy eternal happiness with Him in Heaven. So shouldn't that latter be our daily focus each day? Shouldn't that be our first priority?
If your daily efforts represent nothing more than working to amass riches, or even security, it leaves one with nothing to show either in the pursuit or the accomplishment of what should be our real priority. Meanwhile we go on believing our work is something really important; but thinking clearly about it, it’s not. In the end, the things for which we struggle at work pass away. The one thing that doesn't is us.
Ironically, we use the expression "pass away" (or these days, simply "pass") when we refer to someone who has died. But thinking about it, it's more like we pass through, this world, so to speak, and then emerge again. And when we emerge, we do so without a single stitch of anything we worked so hard for while we were alive. We take nothing with us.
Since nothing can be taken when our time in this world concludes, that which we pursued, that which we spent so much of our time getting, simply evaporates, at least as it “belonged” to us. The secular world believes that we evaporate, when it’s the things that were “ours” that really do evaporate. Of course, the material stuff might still be sitting wherever it is when we "pass," but it's not ours anymore. The material stuff sits and collects dust until someone claims it. At best, it belongs to our "estate," there to be doled out to whoever you name in your will. Indeed, your bank account immediately gets re-titled. Off goes your name and in its place the bank relabels it "Estate of (your name)."
Meanwhile, while our stuff is thus transformed in this world, we are transformed in a quite different manner. We become, in a sense, more real at death than during life in this world, and we take nothing but our souls into eternal life, which is that most real existence for which we were put her to prepare.
So that's why our resolution to stop wasting time has nothing to do with increasing efficiency, focusing on the task at hand, avoiding time wasting activities and people. We Catholics would do well to remind ourselves each and every day about our real priority in this world and go about our business each day with that priority front and center in our minds, not just something we recall when we have a few minutes of down time on our hands, as may be the case this week.
Resolve to thank God each morning for another day to know, love and serve Him. Then get on with whatever day's work awaits you. Otherwise, you're just wasting your time.
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