Speaking the terms holiness and marketplace in the same breath may suggest a momentary loss of sanity-at the least, a touch of unreality! But for those who say they believe in a God made flesh, who creates, loves, and holds all reality in being, such a statement should make eminent sense. In this article, we explore various paths to holiness in the marketplace and look at some concrete virtues one can practice while at work.
Spiritual renewal
The spirituality of work has become a "hot" topic in the last few years, with initiatives coming from both the top and the rank and file. Workers organize prayer groups on the job; others plan memorial services in the workplace for deceased relatives of employees; one executive has established a "soul committee" to explore how his company can nurture its corporate soul. Others struggle to enter more fully into the spiritual possibilities embedded in our very encounters with coworkers, in the work itself, and in the context and conditions of the workplace.
Our hunger for spiritual renewal is expanding from explicitly religious activity-prayer, spiritual reading, and worship-to those areas in which we spend most of our lives. The sheer number of hours we spend at work warrants spiritual reflection. In addition, continuing corporate downsizing and layoffs have created an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty for some and expanded workloads for those who do retain their positions. The social, economic, and political unrest is unsettling.
A place to begin
How do we find God at work? It is obvious that this does not happen automatically. To begin, we have to want to find God at work, or at least be curious about how this might come about. Next, we need to be aware that we have some control over the meaning of certain events in our lives. For some individuals, a work-related issue will have only economic meaning; for others, it will have only a negative meaning; for yet others, it may have many different meanings, including a spiritual one. It follows that our expectations play an important role in whether or not we look for and find God in the marketplace. If we do not expect to find God at the office or in our neighborhood or at the school board meeting, then indeed, for all practical purposes, God will not be there.
The way we begin, then, is to reflect on the experiences of our daily lives. We are invited to ask ourselves in all simplicity and humility: Where do we experience the beauty, the love, and the healing touch of God? Where are we challenged to come to terms with ourselves and our illusions and to live in the truth? Where are we asked to participate in the redemptive suffering of the cross? Where are we called to witness to the grace of God in our midst by an act of forgiveness or generosity, by walking the extra mile, by offering a word of thanks and encouragement to a neighbor or a colleague?
Opportunities for growth
Confronting problems in the workplace can be intimidating. Often we find it easier to withdraw, lash out, condemn, or ignore the challenges. But it is also possible to enhance the way we view work; to notice opportunities for greater self-knowledge and self-expression; to grow in sensitivity, compassion, forgiveness, and other virtues. It is possible to become better, more thoughtful, more virtuous persons because of work activities.
We can also be more honest about the opportunity to work. What would life be without work? We joke about TGIF and have made a religion of complaining about work. But when is this simply a healthy version of blowing off stream and when is it dishonest and destructive? Can we be grateful for the chance to express and develop ourselves at work? To show love and appreciation for our families through financial support? To contribute to the common good by supporting social enterprises and individuals who are less fortunate than we are?
Allow me to focus on three workplace virtues. From your own experience, you can flush out further details and make your own additions to the list.
1- The virtue of competence
This virtue of competence-and beyond competence, excellence-can provide an anchor for a spirituality of work. In his concise and well-written book The Monday Connection: A Spirituality of Competence, Affirmation, and Support in the Workplace, William Diehl cites Dorothy Sayers and Martin Luther on this issue. Sayers comments: "The Church's approach to an intelligent carpenter is usually confined to exhorting him not to be drunk and disorderly in his leisure hours and to come to church on Sundays. What the Church should be telling him is this: that the very first demand that his religion makes upon him is that he should make good tables."
And from Martin Luther, who was a pioneer in encouraging the laity to read and draw strength from the Bible: "Only look at your tools, your needle, your thimble, your beer barrel, your articles of trade, your scales, your measures, and you will find this saying written on them... 'My dear, use me toward your neighbor as you would want him to act toward you with that which is his.'"
Competence is a quality that applies to every form of work. We can ask ourselves about our willingness to strive for competence and whether we see excellent job performance as a serious obligation of the Christian life. It takes a lot of will and energy-especially if we have been in the same job for a long time-to continue to demand and inspire ourselves and our employees to high standards of quality.
Let us explore some concrete questions about competence as it applies both to administrators or managers and to employees. As managers, are we as creative as we might be at finding ways to encourage, motivate, and reward employees for competent performance? Do we voice appreciation for a job well done? Do we express appreciation for even the smallest gesture of goodwill in the hope of nurturing it into some things more significant? As workers, is our self-image vested in producing an excellent product, in a commitment to ongoing professional development, in a willingness to assist coworkers when appropriate? A growing ability to focus on the present moment and to respond as well as we can to whatever or whoever is before us is a rigorous form of a spirituality of work.
Work done with care, integrity, dignity, long suffering, love-and even, on occasion, joy-is marvelous way to praise the Creator of the universe. The road to heaven will be paved not by placing an explicit religious meaning on work activities but by striving to perform these activities in a way that reflects quality and excellence.
2-Courage: Creative risk-taking
It has struck me that in recent decades the virtue of courage is in great demand. In terms of the work place, we can speak of a least two kinds of courage: the courage to lead and the courage to stand up for professional and moral convictions.
Exercising courage in leadership involves a number of risks. Leaders are inevitably forced into vulnerable positions. The very public nature of administration precludes indulging ourselves in expressing negative feelings or in speaking "off the cuff." The constant threat of vulnerability can call forth a variety of responses. We can begin to flaunt or abuse power, thus banishing the vulnerable feelings. We can become cynical, hardening ourselves to the openness and vision that are so crucial to effective leadership. Or we can give up inside, treading water to maintain the status quo or sinking into quiet despair. In particularly difficult situations, it is very tempting to respond in this way.
But choosing to be vulnerable can help us develop a deeper spiritual life. Abandoning ourselves to God's graces and trusting that we will be held up requires much courage. In this leap, however, we gain access to sources of spiritual power that allow us to continue to take the risks that are inevitable involved in creative leadership.
To do the work carefully and well, with love and respect for the nature of my task and with due attention to its purpose, is to unite myself to God's will in my work.
Taking risks among colleagues presents another set of challenges. It is often difficult to follow our conscience, to stand up for professional responsibilities, or to speak the truth to our peers, who might read our actions as a bid to advance our own status. Taking a public stand on a moral issue, confronting our colleagues about unacceptable behaviors or performance, or offering forgiveness and compassion to a transgressor can take a heavy toll.
A second kind of courage is the courage to uphold our convictions. This involves embracing-and continuing to develop-values that reflect the common good of society and church. Growth in our ability to practice discernment is also important. We need to question ourselves honestly about our values, test them with others, notice when they become biased or self-centered, and adjust them accordingly. Often the most difficult kind of moral courage involves confronting the institutions we are committed to uphold when we judge that these institutions are working against rather than for the common good.
Companion virtues to courage are humility and patience. Seeing ourselves and those with whom we work as children of God-sinners yet made in God's image and likeness-is a tall order. But recognizing this truth protects leaders from looking down on, lording it over, exploding in anger at, or trying to force others to behave in desirable ways. It invites workers neither to judge one another nor to protect one another in illegitimate ways. Such thinking can spur us on to assist or be assisted in a process of mentoring so that we can grow in necessary skills and confidence. And as we all know, patience can be a heroic virtue in many workplace settings!
3- "Bowing": The virtue of deference
The final virtue, deference, underlines the important role of relationships in the workplace. For many workers, contacts at work provide a source of identity and belonging. Even working at a difficult job can be eased when we enjoy our colleagues and feel a sense of solidarity with them.
Several years ago when I began to think more systematically about the virtue of deference, an image came into my mind early one morning in that alpha state between deep sleep and waking consciousness. The image was that of the "bow." I remembered an experience I had twenty years ago when I was on a retreat with a group of campus ministers in Madison, Wisconsin. David Steindl-Rast had been invited to facilitate our gathering. When I was introduced to him that first evening, he put his two feet together, made a profound bow toward me, took my hand and kissed it, and then said, "How do you do." After I recovered-never having been greeted that way in an initial introduction-I greeted him, and the evening's program proceeded. In reflecting on his gesture and its effect on me, I guessed that he recognized and acknowledged the God-image in me, and I began to stand a little taller.
A second instance of bowing belongs to the realm of theater and performance. When we speak with performers about the bow, we soon realize that they do not see the bow as a gesture that points to them or to their dramatic or musical skills. Rather, it is their gesture of deference and service to the audience. The performers acknowledge the applause that communicates appreciation of a service well done. The performers are there for the audience, and not vice versa.
For those of us who are not performers, the rare bow we might make probably happens at a liturgical celebration. We may need to reflect about the meaning of liturgical bows and whether or not they are connected and authenticated through the bowing we do or don't do in daily life-to one another and to the rest of creation.
Those who really believe that we are made in God's image seem free to respect and raise up the "other," whether the other is a person, a tree, or a paper wasp. To the extent that we are able to be at home with and rest easy in God's love, we are able in all simplicity to face other persons, the animal and plant kingdoms, and even rocks and twigs with a humble, awe-filled respect.
From this perspective, it becomes unthinkable to treat others with a flippant disregard or with an attitude of arrogance, indifference, or disdain. Our sense of deep connection with God can open us to experience connections with all of reality, and vice versa. As we grow spiritually, we more readily notice the gifts and virtues of others and allow those gifts to bring us joy. This becomes quite challenging when we face people at work we do not like or respect and yet are called to encounter them with patience, forgiveness, kindness, honesty, respect, and basic courtesy. As workers, we struggle to see ourselves as servants to others, difficult as this may be in many situations.
Conclusion
Each of us has a ministry of presence to those around us. All of us are walking wounded in one way or another, even an arrogant boss, a lazy colleague, or an embittered employee. It is a virtuous discipline-at times heroic-to try to listen, to be available, to offer the encouraging word.
Spirituality at work takes many forms. It might mean stopping to say a quick prayer or noticing the goodness in a coworker. But more often it leads down the more difficult road of respecting colleagues; ensuring a just wage and safe working conditions; giving a full day's work; trusting and caring; being truthful and courageous; utilizing grievance procedures; forgiving; communicating openly and respectfully; developing personal talents and gifts; contributing to the common good. These are the essence of a spirituality of work. It is our energetic commitment to and engagement in these processes that will make us worker-saints.
Our spiritual lives cannot be separate or a dispensation from the responsibilities of our daily lives. The very essence and the building blocks of a religious existence are located here. A spirituality of work challenges us to see the whole world as permanently graced at its root, borne up by God's self-communication. The primary theater of faith and our spiritual lives is ordinary, worldly existence. The opportunities for growth in the Spirit, indeed for heroic sanctity, are available to all, embedded in our mundane, sin filled, humdrum, yet glorious and loving everyday existence.