Dealing with Suffering at Work
Last time we talked about suffering at work, looking at a specific scenario which concluded with an observation:
(You can read the whole post by clicking HERE.)
Now let's consider some possible "Catholic" ways of dealing with suffering like this. Remember that these are personal observations. I'm not a priest or theologian, just a Catholic who tries to live according to his Faith (albeit rather sloppily and lazily at times!). So here goes.
I guess the most important take-away we might note is that the fact that you do everything "right" as was the case in this scenario doesn't entitle you to success in this world. You know this, right? You've probably faced situations where you did all you could to achieve a goal or objective, but no matter how much you do, how hard you try, things don't work out. You fail. In the example we looked at, the failure was, while not quite catastrophic, still pretty dramatic: loss of money, possible loss of job, etc.
Naturally, as a Catholic, you understand that, while tough, hard work can be a cross to bear in and of itself, failing can be a bigger cross - indeed perhaps a bitter cross - to bear. But the bitterness must be faced and taken directly to Our Lord. We can't let bitterness taint our crosses. Ideally, we bear our crosses with joy, but if you're like me, that can be asking a lot in most circumstances. But if you ever come across one of these "bitter" crosses, I've found the one most effective way to handle this is to - right away - picture Our Lord on His Cross. You can just see the suffering of the Son of God, Our Lord and Savior, Love Itself, and if you give yourself enough time to meditate and pray with Him hanging there like that, it should alleviate any bitterness right away. That's why we Catholics carry crucifixes and not just plain crosses. The suffering our Our Lord should always be something close to us, something with which we are intimately aware at all times. Anyway, that's one way I've tried to deal with situations like this.
As for the bad actions of those who behaved irresponsibly and ultimately caused the failure, you can go on resenting or even hating them, or you can try to think about your own, shall we say, slightly imperfect self (ahem). I know this works for me (although I do have to sometimes really force myself to do this). And being as imperfect as I am, once I put my mind to it, there's no end to the incidents I can find of my own bad or irresponsible behavior. So I've now been the butt of exactly the sort of behavior I've exhibited towards others - sometimes even towards those I love. Humility - always a tonic to the prideful self-centered soul - saves you from ongoing, debilitating resentment.
It's not so much the frustration or anger you feel in the moment, as described in the story. That's just human nature - and as Catholics we understand that human nature is fallen and subject to such reactions. What we want to avoid is letting these emotions settle into your heart and soul where they not only create hard feelings that can be difficult to deal with but, far worse, leave you exposed to our old "friend" the Devil who absolutely rejoices at the opportunity to play with us and turn us against God. And since he knows that the Cross was his great defeat, imagine how excited he must be if he sees us bearing a cross that, instead of tempering us like steel to resist his temptations, turns our hearts and souls bitter and brittle - just the state he needs to literally break us.
So with those few suggestions, let's learn to deal with our suffering as we should - as Catholics should. Remember the important point here is that we think and act like Catholics. How we feel is secondary - frankly not all that important. Fallen human nature easily exposes you to all sorts of feelings, so don't expect yourself to like defeat and failure. But make darn sure you think and act as you should - by the grace of God, of course.
If you've ever experienced anything like this, you know that this can be a pretty strong source of suffering. The anxiety of not making money, of maybe losing your job, the anger at the injustice of these oblivious bosses not doing their jobs and making proper evaluations, essentially misleading you all along.
It can be - indeed probably would be - devastating. Despondency, even despair, can literally wash over you, overwhelm you, even challenge your faith.
(You can read the whole post by clicking HERE.)
Now let's consider some possible "Catholic" ways of dealing with suffering like this. Remember that these are personal observations. I'm not a priest or theologian, just a Catholic who tries to live according to his Faith (albeit rather sloppily and lazily at times!). So here goes.
I guess the most important take-away we might note is that the fact that you do everything "right" as was the case in this scenario doesn't entitle you to success in this world. You know this, right? You've probably faced situations where you did all you could to achieve a goal or objective, but no matter how much you do, how hard you try, things don't work out. You fail. In the example we looked at, the failure was, while not quite catastrophic, still pretty dramatic: loss of money, possible loss of job, etc.
Naturally, as a Catholic, you understand that, while tough, hard work can be a cross to bear in and of itself, failing can be a bigger cross - indeed perhaps a bitter cross - to bear. But the bitterness must be faced and taken directly to Our Lord. We can't let bitterness taint our crosses. Ideally, we bear our crosses with joy, but if you're like me, that can be asking a lot in most circumstances. But if you ever come across one of these "bitter" crosses, I've found the one most effective way to handle this is to - right away - picture Our Lord on His Cross. You can just see the suffering of the Son of God, Our Lord and Savior, Love Itself, and if you give yourself enough time to meditate and pray with Him hanging there like that, it should alleviate any bitterness right away. That's why we Catholics carry crucifixes and not just plain crosses. The suffering our Our Lord should always be something close to us, something with which we are intimately aware at all times. Anyway, that's one way I've tried to deal with situations like this.
As for the bad actions of those who behaved irresponsibly and ultimately caused the failure, you can go on resenting or even hating them, or you can try to think about your own, shall we say, slightly imperfect self (ahem). I know this works for me (although I do have to sometimes really force myself to do this). And being as imperfect as I am, once I put my mind to it, there's no end to the incidents I can find of my own bad or irresponsible behavior. So I've now been the butt of exactly the sort of behavior I've exhibited towards others - sometimes even towards those I love. Humility - always a tonic to the prideful self-centered soul - saves you from ongoing, debilitating resentment.
It's not so much the frustration or anger you feel in the moment, as described in the story. That's just human nature - and as Catholics we understand that human nature is fallen and subject to such reactions. What we want to avoid is letting these emotions settle into your heart and soul where they not only create hard feelings that can be difficult to deal with but, far worse, leave you exposed to our old "friend" the Devil who absolutely rejoices at the opportunity to play with us and turn us against God. And since he knows that the Cross was his great defeat, imagine how excited he must be if he sees us bearing a cross that, instead of tempering us like steel to resist his temptations, turns our hearts and souls bitter and brittle - just the state he needs to literally break us.
So with those few suggestions, let's learn to deal with our suffering as we should - as Catholics should. Remember the important point here is that we think and act like Catholics. How we feel is secondary - frankly not all that important. Fallen human nature easily exposes you to all sorts of feelings, so don't expect yourself to like defeat and failure. But make darn sure you think and act as you should - by the grace of God, of course.
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