Working in the Present Moment

Continuing our discussion of working in the present moment and its salutary effect in our spiritual lives,  we turn now to the book of Sirach in the Old Testament. (We started speaking about Sirach a while back and I had mentioned we'd return to this book of practical advice from time to time.)

Read through these descriptions of various kinds of work. These are occupations that require exceptional focus and concentration. Such occupations necessitate the discipline of working in the present moment. The types of people who do this sort of work are highly skilled. Indeed, their work, as you'll see, is essential to "the fabric of the world." As you read these verses, think about your own work and how this might apply to you.

We're reading selected verses in Sirach 38:27-34, starting with a description of craftsmen:

...those who cut the signets of seals, each is diligent in making a great variety;he sets his heart on painting a life-like image, and he is careful to finish his work.So too is the smith sitting by the anvil, intent upon his handiwork in iron;the breath of the fire melts his flesh and he wastes away in the heat of the furnace;he inclines his ear to the sound of the hammer, and his eyes on the pattern of the object.He sets his heart on finishing his handiwork, and he is careful to complete its decoration. 

So too is the potter sitting at his work and turning the wheel with his feet;he is always deeply concerned over his work, and all his output is by number.He moulds the clay with his arm and makes it pliable with his feet;he sets his heart to finish the glazing, and he is careful to clean the furnace.
All these rely upon their hands, and each is skillful in his own work. 

Without them a city cannot be established, and men can neither sojourn nor live there.Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people,nor do they attain eminence in the public assembly. 

They do not sit in the judge's seat, not do they understand the sentence of judgment;they cannot expound discipline or judgment, and they are not found using proverbs.But they keep stable the fabric of the world, and their prayer is in the practice of their trade. 

Perhaps your own work is the sort that keeps stable the fabric of the world, perhaps not. But all of us Catholic men should work in such a way that our work is a prayer. Learning to work in the present moment helps us in this endeavor.