Fulton Sheen on Work - 2

We continue with Fulton Sheen's thoughts about work. Today he begins by digging into the every day tasks we perform.

"Every task we undertake has two aspects - our purpose, which makes us think it worth doing, and the work itself, regarded apart from its end-purpose. We play tennis to get exercise, but we play the game as well as possible, just for the joy of doing the thing well. The man who argued that he could get as much exercise by sloppy technique on the courts wold have missed an understanding of the second aspect of all activity: the accomplishment of the task in accordance with its own standards of excellence. In the same way, a man working in an automobile factory may have, as his primary purpose, the earning of wages; but the purpose of the work itself is the excellent completion of the task. A workman should be aware of the second purpose at all times - as the artist is aware of the aim of beauty in his painting, and the housewife is aware of the need for neatness when she dusts."

We should all be well aware of this "dual purpose" of all our daily work activity. These two come into play after our intention of doing all for the greater glory of God, of course. 

The recognition of the practical need to earn a living is important here. It applies to all of us not born with a silver spoon in our mouth, as the old saying goes. We need to earn a living. With that in place, though, we also need to do our best, or as Bishop Sheen puts it, we need to approach each task "in accordance with its own standards of excellence."

This will require us to know just what those standards are. We don't just show up and make ourselves busy - or worse, look busy. (On this last point, I've worked in environments where the "looking busy" all the time was part of the company culture. It's a waste of time and an inordinate drain on our time and attention, never mind a major energy suck.)

With the second purpose in mind, he continues...

"Today the first aspect of working has become paramount, and we tend to ignore the second...so that many workmen lead half-lives in their laboring hours. They are like gardeners, ordered to grow cabbage to give them sauerkraut juice, but indifferent as to whether their plots are weeded properly or their cabbages are healthy vegetables. This is a mistaken attitude: God himself worked when He made the world and then, viewing it, He called it 'good.'"

The comparison to God's "work" drives home the importance of our taking seriously the call to approach each task "in accordance with its own standards of excellence."

God works. We work.

Imagine if we could recall this every day as we begin our daily labor. That Task List - the same one that sometimes (lots of times?) lists items that just don't get us excited, may even represent a day of drudgery - now transforms itself into something beautiful As God's work is beautiful, so can ours be.

The intimate connection of all this with our spiritual lives flows naturally now. And while reading through Bishop Sheen's remarks and thinking about them, I happened upon a short passage written by Father Willie. While his subject is primarily the spiritual life, we can easily connect this with the practical aspects of our daily work.

Lord, give me grace and strength of character to tear myself away promptly from what, if not bad, is less good, and to give myself earnestly, self-denyingly, perseveringly, to the better and the best.

Father Willie has added the additional benefit of getting outside ourselves, denying ourselves, when we do our best and do it promptly. And isn't that a step in the direction of St. Paul's urging us to "put on" Christ - cast off the old man and put on the new?  

So much here to lift us up and spur us on to a great day at work today, don't you think?