The Atheist and the God-Fearing in the Foxhole: Losing Your Job
The saying "There are no atheists in foxholes" applies primarily to soldiers under the duress of enemy fire, laying low, praying to God for protection like they may never have before. But the saying may also apply to any situation where things go so wrong that you're shaken such that, despite your former indifference to God, you turn to Him and desperately seek his help. Here we apply it to the situation where your complacency about your faith is tested by extreme difficulties on the job.
At work, difficulties arise from time to time. Most of us can manage them in the course of a normal day. But every once in a while, something so serious, so extreme pops us, it shakes us to our core. A typical example: You lose your job through no fault of your own. Here's a typical scenario.
You've been doing really well for a spell, maybe a long time. Your career's advancing, you're making good money, you've got a decent boss and pleasant co-workers. You may even experience a rather low level of stress, so going to work every day isn't a chore; it's even fun. As for your relationship with God, you're not really an atheist. You call yourself a Catholic. Maybe go to Mass - at least most Sundays.
And as for God's place in the rest of your life, well, it's tenuous at best. Your success at work doesn't really require God' Presence. Oh, maybe you'll call on Him if and when it's needed; but right now you've got everything under control. With a high level of demonstrable skill, a track record of consistent accomplishment, and the sort of recognition that results in steady promotions, you're doing just fine on your own.
Then your company is sold or taken over by another firm. Your world is turned upside down. You and all around you wonder what to expect. Will you keep your job or will new management "clean house"? Stress fills your formerly happy, peaceful days at work; rumors fly. It's hard to concentrate on your work. People spend more time speculating about what might happen next instead of getting their work done.
The tension continues to build through days, weeks, maybe even months of wondering. Sure, the new "big boss" has walked the halls and greeted everyone with a smile, but that's no reassurance. You begin to suspect he just wants things to hold together until the new management initiates the "re-organization" that always accompanies these situations. Finally first one, then another of your colleagues is let go, starting with that boss you liked so much and who liked you and supported you. Management wants their team in place, and that's that. All this swirls around you, but no one's said a word to you. At some point you begin to imagine that you're safe. You think the new boss will find out how valuable you were, what a good team player you'll be. He or she will see that you've always been and will continue to be indispensable. You'll escape the purge.
But it's all wishful thinking. finally, the axe falls on you and you're let go because the new boss is "consolidating" resources and people. No fault of yours; you're just one of the numbers that has to disappear to shape up the company's balance sheet and show it to be distinctly profitable for the owners and/or shareholders. Despite your skills and talents, and all the great work you've done in the past - all demonstrable - you're out on the street.
If you didn't realize before that you were in a foxhole, now you do. While things were going well, you hardly gave God a second thought. Maybe you weren't literally an atheist, but you acted like one. Now, with your world collapsing about you, you're on your own, with no support. You're just like the atheist in the fox hole. All of a sudden, you've got religion; you need God. You thought you had it all, your life filled up as it was with all your accomplishments. Shocking how quickly all that was once so solid, so fulfilling simply crumbles.
Having been through similar situations, what follows next time will come from personal experience...
Meanwhile, how about we say a prayer for any of us who may be right now sitting in that fox hole today.
At work, difficulties arise from time to time. Most of us can manage them in the course of a normal day. But every once in a while, something so serious, so extreme pops us, it shakes us to our core. A typical example: You lose your job through no fault of your own. Here's a typical scenario.
You've been doing really well for a spell, maybe a long time. Your career's advancing, you're making good money, you've got a decent boss and pleasant co-workers. You may even experience a rather low level of stress, so going to work every day isn't a chore; it's even fun. As for your relationship with God, you're not really an atheist. You call yourself a Catholic. Maybe go to Mass - at least most Sundays.
And as for God's place in the rest of your life, well, it's tenuous at best. Your success at work doesn't really require God' Presence. Oh, maybe you'll call on Him if and when it's needed; but right now you've got everything under control. With a high level of demonstrable skill, a track record of consistent accomplishment, and the sort of recognition that results in steady promotions, you're doing just fine on your own.
Then your company is sold or taken over by another firm. Your world is turned upside down. You and all around you wonder what to expect. Will you keep your job or will new management "clean house"? Stress fills your formerly happy, peaceful days at work; rumors fly. It's hard to concentrate on your work. People spend more time speculating about what might happen next instead of getting their work done.
The tension continues to build through days, weeks, maybe even months of wondering. Sure, the new "big boss" has walked the halls and greeted everyone with a smile, but that's no reassurance. You begin to suspect he just wants things to hold together until the new management initiates the "re-organization" that always accompanies these situations. Finally first one, then another of your colleagues is let go, starting with that boss you liked so much and who liked you and supported you. Management wants their team in place, and that's that. All this swirls around you, but no one's said a word to you. At some point you begin to imagine that you're safe. You think the new boss will find out how valuable you were, what a good team player you'll be. He or she will see that you've always been and will continue to be indispensable. You'll escape the purge.
But it's all wishful thinking. finally, the axe falls on you and you're let go because the new boss is "consolidating" resources and people. No fault of yours; you're just one of the numbers that has to disappear to shape up the company's balance sheet and show it to be distinctly profitable for the owners and/or shareholders. Despite your skills and talents, and all the great work you've done in the past - all demonstrable - you're out on the street.
If you didn't realize before that you were in a foxhole, now you do. While things were going well, you hardly gave God a second thought. Maybe you weren't literally an atheist, but you acted like one. Now, with your world collapsing about you, you're on your own, with no support. You're just like the atheist in the fox hole. All of a sudden, you've got religion; you need God. You thought you had it all, your life filled up as it was with all your accomplishments. Shocking how quickly all that was once so solid, so fulfilling simply crumbles.
Having been through similar situations, what follows next time will come from personal experience...
Meanwhile, how about we say a prayer for any of us who may be right now sitting in that fox hole today.
Comments