What We Own and How We Own It - 2

Last time we considered what we own. We did that in the light of St. Benedict's Rule - the part where he basically says: a) Monks should own nothing; b) ownership is s vice. 

We understood that all of us in the world of the working man can't follow this advice literally. But we also learned a thing or two that will help us: a) better attend to our spiritual life, especially during our working hours; b) build and maintain stability in our workplace.

All of that centered on what we own. Now we switch to how we own it.

We're not talking about whether you own something yourself, with your spouse, with family members, or friends, or the host of other ownership arrangements we fallen creatures have cobbled together to establish that "This is mine." (In my profession, how we own something can be an important component of a solid estate plan. But that's not our concern here.)

How we own anything - ourselves, with others, etc. - can be a legal thing. But our concern here isn't with legalities. We're going to focus on the spiritual. We'll see, I think, how that focus will lend itself to keeping us calm, and therefore more productive on the job, as well as help maintain stability in our workplace.

So setting aside the legalities, what are we left with? We're left with how we think of our stuff and who we think is the ultimate real owner of it all. Spoiler: It's God - not us.

It gets down to the concept of being a good steward. That's how Catholic men  at work need to own what they own.

As good stewards, we want all that we own to serve God, in some fashion. That's ultimately the final measure of its worth; not what we can get for it on Ebay, or in any other commercial transaction.

If all we think about is the dollar signs our stuff represents, we're heading down the wrong path If all we think about is how what we own makes us feel, or appears in the eyes of others, we're heading down a path that ultimately leads to a pit.

It's that simple.

Now, saying we're good stewards can sound like fine words. But saying and really doing or living as good stewards may be something quite different.

A good steward takes pride in taking care of things for his master. In this case, our Master is God. He made everything, as in EVERYTHING. No matter what we paid for an item, it's part of God's creation. Even when it's been made with the brains and hands of others. Whether they intentionally created an item - product or service - to glorify God doesn't matter. It's worth nothing if we separate the item from God, our Father, Creaor of Heaven and Earth.

And this applies even to stuff we make with our own hands. Sure we can take pride in creating something that good, that's beautiful. But if we take God out of the picture, we're feeding self, pumping up our egos. We're not only on a path that leads to the pit, we're practically slip-sliding away deep into the heart of...we'll you get the point, I hope.

We need to somehow separate ourselves from what we own, what we create, what we accomplish. As good stewards, we recognize the Ultimate Owner; we attribute anything we create to the Creator Himself; we attribute whatever we manage to accomplish that has a grain of good to our being instruments in God's Hands - to our intention to do His Will.

If we lift up our gaze and our hearts to Him each day, if we sincerely intend to do all for Him, then we have put all our actions, all our aspirations, and everything that results from our efforts - everything - where it belongs: in His Hands. We recognize that He has given all to us, freely, lovingly. Our job is simply to tend to all He has given us and keep it in tip-top shape to serve Him and our fellow man.

As good stewards, our concern is not ourselves. It's God. If we serve God, not ourselves, we'll be more effective at our work, having taken our egos out of the mix of our daily efforts. And with all our egos booted out the door, our workplace will be less subject to the pushes and pulls of personalities, jealousies, envies, ambitions.

Getting the whole notion of ownership reconfigured as we've discussed will go a long way to establishing stability in our workplace.