The Practice of Mortification at Work: A Few More Pracitcal Suggestions
We finish up our extended exploration of the practice of mortification at work with three more suggestions. As a reminder, mortification can be practiced anywhere, virtually anytime. It's an essential part of our effort to grow closer to God, in other words, to become more holy. I invite you to read the previous posts for a complete explanation of mortification - what it is, why it's critical to our lives as Catholics.
Mortification of self-will:
Unless you're the exception to the rule, you're a member of the "Selfish Club." In varying degrees (some of us more than others) we tend to be self-centered. It's difficult, if not impossible, to grow closer to God when you're thinking about yourself all the time. This mortification attacks our constant desire to "want" - as in "I want." You assert your will not only exclusively of God's Will, but you assert your will over others.
Working as a member of team might be a natural setting for the practice of this mortification at work. You may think you know the best way to get a project done, but, frankly, that's frequently not the case. There are, as the saying goes, lots of ways to skin a cat. And so you can listen carefully to others suggestions and, rather than insist on your ideas, help to develop their ideas. Use your common sense here; don't go with a bad idea just to practice this mortification. But my experience has been that - at least most of the time - you may not be the only one with a good idea.
Mortification of judgment:
You hear all the time how we shouldn't be "judgmental." I'm not talking about that here. That's mostly another way of saying we should not pass judgment, even accept as OK any stupid or immoral word or deed we observe coming from others. But the fact remains many if not most of us judge far too much.
To apply this simply and successfully at work, make the effort to separate the person from their words and actions and make it a habit not to judge the person. This is an offshoot of the Church's teaching to "love the sinner, hate the sin," but you can apply it to words and actions that aren't necessarily sinful. Mortifying our tendency to judge others reflects our recognition that we, too, are sinners. Develop this habit and you'll find that it helps that awful tendency so many of us have - especially in the workplace - to gossip or make critical or condescending comments about others. Gossip is especially lethal to both others' reputations and our own spiritual progress and anything that helps us avoid gossip - all the time and at all costs - is worth the effort.
Mortification of curiosity:
Being curious about things is generally a good personal characteristic. Frankly, people who have no curiosity about things outside their personal surroundings or way of life tend to be kind of dull. So curiosity in itself isn't bad. It's a perfectly legitimate, mostly good, tendency. Of course, it can get out of control and lead us to be busybodies when we have to know everything that everyone is doing. But I'm not really talking about that here. What I'm referring to now is the natural and good trait that manifests itself in a thirst to know. You can still take this natural and good trait and utilize your basically positive habit of wanting to know as a means of mortification. At work, this might be a particularly good practice. After all, most of us are expected to perform certain tasks that accomplish the goals of our businesses or organizations. And an overwhelming curiosity can get in the way of our getting things done in a timely manner.
A personal example: I'm working on a particular project for a client and I come across a term or concept in that I'm not that familiar with, or perhaps I realize that I really don't understand it as well as I should. My natural tendency might be to stop what I'm doing and pursue that term or concept, to research it, to understand it thoroughly. The test here would be that if that benefits the client, if it helps me to do a better or more complete job for the project I'm working on, I pursue the matter forthwith. But if it's really just to satisfy my personal curiosity, I put off pursuing the matter until I've completed my work in a timely manner.
So there it is, a rather extended look at the practice of mortification, ending up with these final few examples of how we can pursue this important spiritual discipline in the workplace. You can certainly come up with your own examples and ideas of how to practice mortification. But just remember it doesn't have to be complicated or burdensome. Once you make up your mind to mortify yourself on a regular basis and develop the habit of doing so, you will find the practice both personally satisfying and salutary to your spiritual life. Satisfying because you will realize the goal of every serious Catholic to subdue the senses, and so strengthen the use and role of reason in your life. Salutary because it is only when reason rules the roost, so to speak, that any real spiritual progress can be made.
Finally, this practice is, I hope you've seen, perfectly suited to the workplace. No matter what sort of work you do, mortification should have an important place in your workday.
Mortification of self-will:
Unless you're the exception to the rule, you're a member of the "Selfish Club." In varying degrees (some of us more than others) we tend to be self-centered. It's difficult, if not impossible, to grow closer to God when you're thinking about yourself all the time. This mortification attacks our constant desire to "want" - as in "I want." You assert your will not only exclusively of God's Will, but you assert your will over others.
Working as a member of team might be a natural setting for the practice of this mortification at work. You may think you know the best way to get a project done, but, frankly, that's frequently not the case. There are, as the saying goes, lots of ways to skin a cat. And so you can listen carefully to others suggestions and, rather than insist on your ideas, help to develop their ideas. Use your common sense here; don't go with a bad idea just to practice this mortification. But my experience has been that - at least most of the time - you may not be the only one with a good idea.
Mortification of judgment:
You hear all the time how we shouldn't be "judgmental." I'm not talking about that here. That's mostly another way of saying we should not pass judgment, even accept as OK any stupid or immoral word or deed we observe coming from others. But the fact remains many if not most of us judge far too much.
To apply this simply and successfully at work, make the effort to separate the person from their words and actions and make it a habit not to judge the person. This is an offshoot of the Church's teaching to "love the sinner, hate the sin," but you can apply it to words and actions that aren't necessarily sinful. Mortifying our tendency to judge others reflects our recognition that we, too, are sinners. Develop this habit and you'll find that it helps that awful tendency so many of us have - especially in the workplace - to gossip or make critical or condescending comments about others. Gossip is especially lethal to both others' reputations and our own spiritual progress and anything that helps us avoid gossip - all the time and at all costs - is worth the effort.
Mortification of curiosity:
Being curious about things is generally a good personal characteristic. Frankly, people who have no curiosity about things outside their personal surroundings or way of life tend to be kind of dull. So curiosity in itself isn't bad. It's a perfectly legitimate, mostly good, tendency. Of course, it can get out of control and lead us to be busybodies when we have to know everything that everyone is doing. But I'm not really talking about that here. What I'm referring to now is the natural and good trait that manifests itself in a thirst to know. You can still take this natural and good trait and utilize your basically positive habit of wanting to know as a means of mortification. At work, this might be a particularly good practice. After all, most of us are expected to perform certain tasks that accomplish the goals of our businesses or organizations. And an overwhelming curiosity can get in the way of our getting things done in a timely manner.
A personal example: I'm working on a particular project for a client and I come across a term or concept in that I'm not that familiar with, or perhaps I realize that I really don't understand it as well as I should. My natural tendency might be to stop what I'm doing and pursue that term or concept, to research it, to understand it thoroughly. The test here would be that if that benefits the client, if it helps me to do a better or more complete job for the project I'm working on, I pursue the matter forthwith. But if it's really just to satisfy my personal curiosity, I put off pursuing the matter until I've completed my work in a timely manner.
So there it is, a rather extended look at the practice of mortification, ending up with these final few examples of how we can pursue this important spiritual discipline in the workplace. You can certainly come up with your own examples and ideas of how to practice mortification. But just remember it doesn't have to be complicated or burdensome. Once you make up your mind to mortify yourself on a regular basis and develop the habit of doing so, you will find the practice both personally satisfying and salutary to your spiritual life. Satisfying because you will realize the goal of every serious Catholic to subdue the senses, and so strengthen the use and role of reason in your life. Salutary because it is only when reason rules the roost, so to speak, that any real spiritual progress can be made.
Finally, this practice is, I hope you've seen, perfectly suited to the workplace. No matter what sort of work you do, mortification should have an important place in your workday.
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