More Ways to Pray Through Our Work
We move on now to the chapter entitled "Prayer Through Work" in Working Your Way into Heaven. Cardinal Wyszynski's thoughts will help us to broaden our understanding of work as a means of interior sanctification, the subject our our last 4 posts. We'll be looking for more ways to pray through our work. We're basically looking to unite our work and our prayer life.
As we previously noted:
Besides handling the minutia of daily tasks, and caring about the concerns of the people we serve in our respective businesses, it's critically important that we involve God in this process.
To grow closer to God, we don't have to live the explicitly "religious" life of the priest or monk. We don't have to be the mover and shaker that "makes a difference" in this world. We simply need to show up at work each day with the right attitude, which includes keeping God in our hearts and minds as we go about our business.
Now let's say you do show at work with this "right attitude." Don't be surprised if you immediately sense a tension or contradiction, especially if you're the sort who applies yourself assiduously to your work each day.
"...conscientiousness in work and the turning of our attention to God are at odds with one another..."
That's simply our natural state as we get to work each day, isn't it? Without some special effort to keep God close by, we're off to the races. God certainly is right by our side, of course. It's just that we're not paying much or even any attention to Him. So last week we suggested that we don't just stick with this "natural" state of affairs; rather we should "super-naturalize" our work.
...the more routine, even boring, our daily tasks, the more important is is that we perform them diligently and with love. Doing so, we can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. We take what the natural world presents to us as simple, unimportant actions and elevate them to a supernatural plane when the source of our diligence is love of God.
Doing so could help us to reconcile our attention to God with our need to concentrate on our work. Cardinal Wyszynski suggests we do this, and offers this suggestion: Think of our daily work as "part of asceticism."
Now there's a challenge some of us may not take to so naturally. In an age of self-focus that includes all too frequently self-indulgent behaviors, the very mention of any form of asceticism may jar us. Indeed, endorsing any form of "asceticism" would certainly draw smirks from those whose lives are wrapped up in the ways of the world. The delights of the world and the flesh can easily crowd out any thoughts about God. But that's exactly why asceticism can provide an effective antidote. So rather than blanch at the sound of this "A" word, we Catholics might consider it an aid to, again, super-naturalize our work.
Of what might this asceticism consist? Let's start with a definition of "asceticism": severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of self-indulgence. Avoiding self-indulgence involves not only the physical, but the mental and emotional. In our Catholic tradition, asceticism is not restricted to members of religious orders who live in monasteries. For example, you might consider your Lenten discipline as a form of asceticism: giving up certain foods, not eating between meals, even skipping meals as a form of fasting. We all do something along these lines, right? (You do, don't you?) So with this in mind, how can we consider our work as part of asceticism? Some examples:
Of course, assuming we're in the state of grace, He's there within us all along. So doesn't it make sense to want to clear our minds and open our hearts in order to recognize Him? Practicing asceticism at work can be one way to do that.
Next time we'll continue to look for more ways to pray through our work.
As we previously noted:
Besides handling the minutia of daily tasks, and caring about the concerns of the people we serve in our respective businesses, it's critically important that we involve God in this process.
To grow closer to God, we don't have to live the explicitly "religious" life of the priest or monk. We don't have to be the mover and shaker that "makes a difference" in this world. We simply need to show up at work each day with the right attitude, which includes keeping God in our hearts and minds as we go about our business.
Now let's say you do show at work with this "right attitude." Don't be surprised if you immediately sense a tension or contradiction, especially if you're the sort who applies yourself assiduously to your work each day.
"...conscientiousness in work and the turning of our attention to God are at odds with one another..."
That's simply our natural state as we get to work each day, isn't it? Without some special effort to keep God close by, we're off to the races. God certainly is right by our side, of course. It's just that we're not paying much or even any attention to Him. So last week we suggested that we don't just stick with this "natural" state of affairs; rather we should "super-naturalize" our work.
...the more routine, even boring, our daily tasks, the more important is is that we perform them diligently and with love. Doing so, we can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary. We take what the natural world presents to us as simple, unimportant actions and elevate them to a supernatural plane when the source of our diligence is love of God.
Doing so could help us to reconcile our attention to God with our need to concentrate on our work. Cardinal Wyszynski suggests we do this, and offers this suggestion: Think of our daily work as "part of asceticism."
Now there's a challenge some of us may not take to so naturally. In an age of self-focus that includes all too frequently self-indulgent behaviors, the very mention of any form of asceticism may jar us. Indeed, endorsing any form of "asceticism" would certainly draw smirks from those whose lives are wrapped up in the ways of the world. The delights of the world and the flesh can easily crowd out any thoughts about God. But that's exactly why asceticism can provide an effective antidote. So rather than blanch at the sound of this "A" word, we Catholics might consider it an aid to, again, super-naturalize our work.
Of what might this asceticism consist? Let's start with a definition of "asceticism": severe self-discipline and avoidance of all forms of self-indulgence. Avoiding self-indulgence involves not only the physical, but the mental and emotional. In our Catholic tradition, asceticism is not restricted to members of religious orders who live in monasteries. For example, you might consider your Lenten discipline as a form of asceticism: giving up certain foods, not eating between meals, even skipping meals as a form of fasting. We all do something along these lines, right? (You do, don't you?) So with this in mind, how can we consider our work as part of asceticism? Some examples:
- Show up at work on time every day. Yes, it's a challenge for some of us. If that's true for you, get to work on time - every day!
- Attend to those niggling details or boring tasks we all have to deal with at times without complaint, maybe even joyfully.
- Always treat your co-workers charitably, which includes never gossiping or making unkind, even critical, remarks about someone. (This one's tough for many of us.)
- Eat a modest lunch: Don't splurge on fancy food, or too much food. (It not only saves money, but avoiding a surfeit of food helps you stay awake and alert after lunch so you can attend to your job more diligently.)
- Don't complaining about your job, your boss, or anything else - a common practice in many, if not most, workplaces. Your job may not be ideal, your boss may be overbearing, and one or two co-workers may be a pain in the neck; but rather than complain, simply "offer it up."
Of course, assuming we're in the state of grace, He's there within us all along. So doesn't it make sense to want to clear our minds and open our hearts in order to recognize Him? Practicing asceticism at work can be one way to do that.
Next time we'll continue to look for more ways to pray through our work.
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