An Antidote to Burrs at Work
Last time we discussed what exactly a burr is, and gave some examples. Today we'll consider an antidote to burrs at work.
Before explaining our antidote, a couple of quick thoughts.
First, as you might have already surmised, burrs can be a good source for mortification. As such, we might think of them as little gifts from God. Picture them neatly wrapped and waiting for us, let's say, on our birthday, or under the Christmas tree. We carefully unwrap our gift. We see that it's maybe not what we'd typically think of when we think of "gift." But we're wise enough, mature enough in our spiritual life, to not only accept our gift graciously, but thank Him profusely.
Second, burrs can be especially beneficial during Lent. Oh, right, it's Lent now. Not only is it Lent, but we're heading into the home stretch. For those of us who maybe never really nailed down a reasonably tough Lenten discipline, or have not done our best to stick to one, we're in luck.
If we look around, we'll likely find a burr or two that can help us be more "Lenten." And - even better - we might acknowledge that this or that burr may not conveniently disappear when Easter arrives. So we'll have some grist for our spiritual mill that extends throughout the year. And we don't even have to get creative and dream up this or that mortification. Lucky us!
On to the antidote. We'll get into it with a personal example of recent burr. This one's really a psychological/emotional thing.
Even as I try to be disciplined, objective, calm, and outwardly focused in my professional work, for as long as I can remember - and for no discernible reason - I used to get unnerved when facing client meetings. Whether face to face (a rarity these days), phone, or video, these always caused more than passing anxiety. Since I couldn't figure out why, I decided to try to lessen if not eliminate the anxiety I'd feel as a meeting approached. Funny thing is, once the meeting took place, I basically enjoyed them. The burr was the build-up. Once the meeting got underway, clients seemed to appreciate them. And typically they were quite productive an beneficial both to our clients and to our business.
Nevertheless, anxiety managed to nose it's way like an intruding animal under my tent flap.
Thank God my efforts have paid off, after trying this and that. But the anxiety prevailed for a long, long time. (Even now, it occasionally manifests itself.) It was a burr because it wasn't a really big deal. It's not like I dreaded meetings. And it's not that I lost sleep over the prospect of talking to clients, or anything like that. But it was - in burr-like fashion - persistent over a long period of time.
From experience, burrs don't call for require a lot of preparation or a huge take-a-deep-breath and go for it effort to counter. You know they're going to go on and on for some length of time. So here's a suggested antidote.
Ora et labora.
Recognize this? It translates as prayer and work. As we've seen in the past in our many discussions of the Rule of St. Benedict ora et labora lay at the root of the spiritual and practical discipline monks have practiced for centuries.
And so they should for each of us. If they do, they will provide the counter-measure to burrs.
As we noted last time, burrs can frequently become a form of Chinese water torture. But consistent and persistent prayer and work keeps burrs at bay. We're never letting them drive us crazy because we're always engaging with one or the other of work or prayer.
Indeed, ora et labora allowed me to - over a long period of time - find ways to greatly reduce that anxiety mentioned above.
So if you've not gotten into the ora et labora disciplined rhythm that forms the basic foundation of our daily work, now's a good time to get with the program. Burrs will continue to be a good source of mortification; but they won't drive you crazy.
We adore Thee O Christ and we bless Thee
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