How Work Tempers the Will for the Good - Part 3
We continue with how the workplace helps us temper our will for the Good. We've turned to St Benedict and some instructions in his Rule for some guidance. We've looked to the Rule many times in the past. As a reminder: The Rule of St Benedict, written in the 6th century as a set of instructions for monks praying and working within the walls of a monastery can easily and profitably be applied to any of us working in the world. Indeed it's been used by consultants to businesses as a means to help organize and streamline operations, improve employer-employee relations, provide guidelines for enlightened management, etc. You might consider reading the Rule yourself. (I read it daily as it has been read for centuries by Benedictine monks, bit by bit throughout the year.)
So back we go to Chapter 7 of the Rule, with these clear, forceful instructions from the great Saint (footnotes in parentheses):
Yet we stray from our responsibilities by allowing our physical or intellectual desire for something more interesting or "stimulating" to dominate right reason. That's giving in to our concupiscence, concupiscence being a kind of "leftover" of our having been born in Original Sin. Yes, even after baptism, which cleanses us of Original Sin, we yet must struggle with the effects of that first fault of Adam and Eve that we inherit simply as their children, even after Our Lord's saving Passion, even after our Baptism. (That's just the way it is folks, so face it and deal with it.)
But St Benedict, in his charity, not only points out what we should already know - the effect of our concupiscence - but he reminds us that our own angels, specifically our own guardian angel, "reports" our activities to God each moment of every day. I don't know about you, but it kind of annoys me to think of my very own Guardian Angel as a kind of "snitch." But that's (again!) because of my concupiscence - my preferring to indulge a lower appetite contrary to reason. After all, it's perfectly reasonable and right that our guardian angels behave as St Benedict describes and would be utterly ridiculous and against reason for them to act in any other way, wouldn't it?
Anyway, I suggest you read St Benedict's words again, maybe more slowly and carefully and then meditate for a few moments on them. You'll get a lot more from his words than anything I can write about how our work - done according to God's Will - can temper our will for the Good.
So I pray that God grants me the grace to promptly turn to Him always in the very moment of my temptation to avoid or put off unpleasant tasks at work, even to thank Him for the chance to develop my self-control by tempering my unruly will. How loving He is in providing us with opportunities to call on His aid in strengthening our will to do Good rather than indulge ourselves in that which, being contrary to reason, would work to distract or (heaven forbid!) derail us in our daily struggle to grow in holiness.
So back we go to Chapter 7 of the Rule, with these clear, forceful instructions from the great Saint (footnotes in parentheses):
We must be on our guard, then, against evil desires, for death lies close by the gate of delight; whence Scripture give this command: Go not after thy lusts. (Ecclus. xviii. 30) So if the eyes of the Lord behold the good and the evil, (Prov. xv. 4) and the Lord is ever looking down from heaven upon the children of men, to see there be one soul that reflects and seeks God (Ps. xiii. 2.3); and if our deeds are daily, day and night, reported to the Lord by the angels assigned to us: then, brethren, must we constantly beware, as the prophet says in the psalm, lest God some day behold us falling into evil ways and turned unprofitable, and spare us for this present time, because he is merciful and awaits our amendment, but should say to us in the future: These things didst thou do, and I was silent. (Ps. xlix. 21)When St Benedict, quoting Scripture, says "Go not after thy lusts," I don't think he's speaking only about sexual lust. The reference here is probably to "concupiscence." As we saw in a previous post, while concupiscence is frequently associated with lust, or sexual desire, it should be more broadly understood as the desire of the lower appetite contrary to reason. Doesn't this fit perfectly into our discussion? After all, our desire to avoid boring or unpleasant tasks at work frequently arises because we're looking for more "stimulating" tasks. This desire for stimulation, whether physical or intellectual, frequently opposes what we know with our reason to be the right thing to do, i.e., the task at hand.
Yet we stray from our responsibilities by allowing our physical or intellectual desire for something more interesting or "stimulating" to dominate right reason. That's giving in to our concupiscence, concupiscence being a kind of "leftover" of our having been born in Original Sin. Yes, even after baptism, which cleanses us of Original Sin, we yet must struggle with the effects of that first fault of Adam and Eve that we inherit simply as their children, even after Our Lord's saving Passion, even after our Baptism. (That's just the way it is folks, so face it and deal with it.)
But St Benedict, in his charity, not only points out what we should already know - the effect of our concupiscence - but he reminds us that our own angels, specifically our own guardian angel, "reports" our activities to God each moment of every day. I don't know about you, but it kind of annoys me to think of my very own Guardian Angel as a kind of "snitch." But that's (again!) because of my concupiscence - my preferring to indulge a lower appetite contrary to reason. After all, it's perfectly reasonable and right that our guardian angels behave as St Benedict describes and would be utterly ridiculous and against reason for them to act in any other way, wouldn't it?
Anyway, I suggest you read St Benedict's words again, maybe more slowly and carefully and then meditate for a few moments on them. You'll get a lot more from his words than anything I can write about how our work - done according to God's Will - can temper our will for the Good.
So I pray that God grants me the grace to promptly turn to Him always in the very moment of my temptation to avoid or put off unpleasant tasks at work, even to thank Him for the chance to develop my self-control by tempering my unruly will. How loving He is in providing us with opportunities to call on His aid in strengthening our will to do Good rather than indulge ourselves in that which, being contrary to reason, would work to distract or (heaven forbid!) derail us in our daily struggle to grow in holiness.
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