The Toughest Work Day Can't Be This Tough!

Even our toughest work days likely can't be this tough! In a moment Father Willie will describe one of his work days in the trenches of World War I, where he served as a chaplain, as we all know. But first, a few comments.

Like life in general, work frequently goes on day to day with little to distinguish one day from the last or the next. On the other hand, we may find ourselves dealing with a crisis or crises that demand immediate attention, perhaps extended hours of hard exhausting labor. Or we may - as personal experience has taught - be summarily dismissed (laid off) due to our company's decision to cut employees abruptly. Or maybe we're slogging through a job that we really don't "like" just for the money, one that seems to suck all the energy out of us leaving little room for any sort of satisfaction, never mind joy in the work we do.

Unless you have been blessed with that "doing what you love" sort of work (elusive for many of us), you likely have faced stretches of tough days at work. And even if you do work that you "love," that still doesn't preclude tough days.

Recently, work has been so packed with tasks that days have gone by where a blessed night of sleep only allows for sufficient energy to barely get through the next day. While the work itself has been somewhat satisfying, the sheer effort to keep up has been at times a bit daunting.

And, if memory serves, in addition to personal experience of being laid off, there have been some stretches of working hard to just scrape by, as well as bouts of being "trapped" in employment that was as far from satisfying as one could imagine. 

But with all that, nothing like this (source: williedoyle.org:)

4 January 1917

I did not get my work finished till rather late tonight and as I had to turn out again shortly it was not worth while turning in. Some of my men were to make a raid on the enemy trenches in the early hours of the morning, dangerous work and heavy casualties often, so I make it a point to go round the line and give each man Absolution before he ‘goes over the top.’ It is a hard and anxious time and a big strain waiting for the word to be given and I know it is a comfort to them to see the priest come round and a cheery word bucks them up. All went well with the raid. We should have had more prisoners only a hot-blooded Irishman is a dangerous customer when he gets behind a bayonet and wants to let daylight through everybody.

I got back to my bunk at six and slept like a top till seven, not too long you will say, but if you come out here you will find all the old-fashioned ideas about food and sleep and wet clothes and the rest of it rapidly vanishing. It is wonderful what you can do with a cup of tea and one hours’ sleep in the twenty-four. (Personally I would vote for two hours, and two cups of tea with a wee bit of bread.)
 

Compare to any tough work days. Any comparison?

With this any thought of tough or toughest work day fade into the background. They're just little gifts from God to wake us up and shake us out of the "one day follows another" syndrome that can wear down our spiritual senses and cause us to treat our days in a kind of absent-minded "It's just another day" fashion. 

The fact is, it's not just another day. It could be our last. And if not, it's time given to us to work in a manner that transforms our work to the "working our way to Heaven" that it should be.

Somehow things don't seem all that tough anymore.