How St. Benedict's Fourth Degree of Humility Helps Us With Difficulties, Obstacles, and Adversity in the Workplace
Our Stability Project continues with St. Benedict's "Degrees of
Humility" as laid out in his Rule. Last time we discussed the second and third degrees of humility. Today's it the fourth degree's turn. Again, our intention is to ground our work in the Rule of St. Benedict. Our hope is that by so grounding our daily labors in the expert guidance this masterwork provides we will foster stability in our workplace.
Here's the fourth degree of humility:
"The fourth degree of humility is that, meeting in this obedience with difficulties and contradictions and even injustice, he should with a quiet mind hold fast to patience, and enduring neither tire nor run away; for the Scripture saith: 'He that shall persevere to the end shall be saved; and again: Let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord'."
A lot here. And it won't be hard to apply this degree to our work.
Let's start by noting that the fourth degree references "obedience," which we previously discussed. It assumes we're true to our commitment to obedience. But, of course, being true to our commitment doesn't necessarily mean we'll always find happy consequences.
To refresh our memory, we used a few examples of parties to whom any of us might owe obedience. These included bosses, customers, clients. And each elicited a specific type of obedient response to their rightful demands or commands. One hopes our counter-parties would recognize our commitment and respond with some combination of recognition, appreciation, maybe even reward. One hopes; but one ought not expect in all cases.
A good boss would likely respond as expected. But not every boss is good. A customer whose demands were met, even exceeded, might sometimes nod appreciatively, with a smile, maybe a tip. Sometimes isn't all the time A client who just received great service, excellent counsel, consistently prompt responses, etc. could reasonably be expected to recognize that superior service, counsel and responsiveness. Some might even enthusiastically recommend us to friends and associates. But not all.
To have one's efforts go unrecognized may leave us a bit frustrated. A puzzled response to lack of appreciation shouldn't be surprising. Rewards that fall far short of the effort and results provided may even cause not simply frustration, but may grow to consternation.
But it could be worse. And, indeed, sometimes it is.
In the face of our best efforts, and results that exceed expectations, a boss could at best mumble a hasty thanks, if not completely ignore us. An insecure boss might even see really excellent praiseworthy work as a potential threat. What if the "big boss" thinks you're so good you should replace your boss, or be promoted over that insecure boss?
A customer may have no idea that your product excels all the competition. They just figure they paid their money and got what they paid for. They're oblivious to your ingenuity and sweat. Or they may have chosen the wrong product to meet their need or solve their problem and then blame you instead of realizing it was their own dumb fault.
Imagine working long and hard on an intractable problem for a client and find not only an adequate, but a perfect solution. For his part, the client receives his benefit with the attitude that, well, they paid you for your work. What else do you want?
A quick personal example: If a client understands I saved them/gained them thousands of dollars, they'll generally give a thumbs up. But if I identified a risk of which they were oblivious, which could end up causing them to lose even more thousands - or worse - the thumb will generally be no where to be found. (Well, at least they didn't stick it my eye!)
These examples of obedience as expressed in the diligent carrying out of our duties going unrewarded can cause us to lose our cool. But that would only undermine the calm and peace that lend stability to our workplace.
While such examples are irritating, what of those times when our best efforts are met with outright injustice? We'll consider this next time.
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee,
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