Imagining a Perfect Job

Have you ever indulged in imagining a perfect job? What would it be?

For some, it might focus strictly on money, of course. Heck, I'd be tempted if someone offered me a position that paid a boatload of money (assuming the work was honest). But more likely the "perfect" has to do with what you'd do each day.

For example, a long time ago I imagined a job that would allow me to come home for lunch each day. I'd picture being home having lunch with my (then relatively new) wife, or maybe going out for lunch together. Not sure why this seemed like a big component of a perfect job, but it did. Perhaps it had to do with the long commutes a lot of my work required. Or maybe the grinding nature of some of those jobs. I don't know.

There was a time, too, when I imagined myself a highly successful entrepreneur. And from what I've heard from other folks, this is not uncommon. We all read about those great success stories of the Steve Jobses, Jeff Bezoses of the world. They started with an idea and eventually controlled a vast empire. They were kings of the world. Of course, the reality behind such imagining - the hundreds of others who struggled and failed - probably never crossed our minds. But who could blame us? The propaganda we were fed by all the "success" books, videos, DVDs, etc. didn't really get into the dark underbelly of the desire to become an empire builder. It was all about imaging what you want and "going for it."

Not that aspiring to great success is necessarily bad. It's just that the myth that you can do whatever you want if you only put your mind, heart, and soul into it is just that: a myth. The fact is, some succeed, many don't. C'est la vie.

In the end, most of us likely work at jobs that have good points and bad points. We like some and don't like some of what we do. We're not discouraged or depressed by our work, but we're not necessarily dancing an Irish jig every morning at the prospect of getting down to the tasks awaiting us.

In my own case, any frustrations I may have felt when I fell short of that perfect job I had imagined began to dissipate when I understood what really happened in the Garden of Eden. It wasn't that work itself became a punishment for Adam and Eve's Original Sin. It was more like work became difficult. Work existed in the Garden. Work was good. After the Fall, work itself remained good; but now it would be difficult. That's how it is for most of us in the best of circumstances. It's simply part of God's Plan. With that in mind, we can go out and deal with the typical difficulties of a hard day's work without grinding our teeth, or seething with resentment. We can jump into the work day and suffer when suffering is our lot. We don't think we're suffering because we weren't up to succeeding at the getting or creating some perfect job we imagined.

And so we simply do our best, work diligently, offer it up for the greater glory of God. At the end of the day, having reasonably completed the tasks that need doing, we know we've done all God asks of us. Frankly, such a day ranks high on my list of perfect days on the job.

With this in mind, I came across something written by Father William (aka "Willie") Doyle. We've quoted from his writings many times in the past. As a rule, just about anything I've read that he's written has been a boon to my personal life, my work life, and, of course, my spiritual life. This passage particularly stands out in the context of our discussion of imagining a perfect job.

As we've seen, to aspire to a perfect job can be mighty frustrating. Not everyone can be a Jobs or a Bezos. (And, at this point, I wouldn't even want to be like them. A sign of maturity?)

Father Willie isn't talking about work here. He's talking about something each and every one of us might aspire to - and not just in our imaginations. Look at what he says and how passionately he says it:

"O Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! who would not love You, who would not give their heart’s blood for You, if only once they realised the depth and the breadth and the realness of Your burning love? Why not then make every human heart a burning furnace of love for You, so that sin would become an impossibility, sacrifice a pleasure and a joy, virtue the longing of every soul, so that we should live for love, dream of love, breathe Your love, and at last die of a broken heart of love, pierced through and through with the shaft of love, the sweetest gift of God to man."

There's some imagination here, of course. Our fallen human nature stands in the way of us reaching this pinnacle of spiritual joy in our love of Jesus. For most of us, it's an ideal we may never reach in this life. But, as opposed to our imagining a perfect job, all of us can and should aspire to this ideal. And, with God's grace, we may actually make progress over time. If we don't reach the ideal in this life, we know that we can in the next life, our eternal life. 

So rather than spin our wheels imaging a perfect job. let's allow the Holy Spirit to enkindle the fire of His Love in us. With grace, we can hope that "sin would become an impossibility, sacrifice a pleasure and a joy, virtue the longing of every soul, so that we should live for love, dream of love, breathe Your love, and at last die of a broken heart of love, pierced through and through with the shaft of love, the sweetest gift of God to man." 

Imagine that!