Luminous
A Catholic Woman and Her Thoughts on Life, the Universe, and Everything
Saturday, September 08, 2007
Since we just had Labor Day....
THE PSYCHOLOGY OF WORK
 
Very few people in this age do the kind of work they like to do. Instead of choosing their jobs freely, they are forced by economic necessity to work at tasks that fail to satisfy them. Many of them say, "I ought to be doing something bigger," or "This job of mine is only important because I get paid." Such an attitude lies at the bottom of much unfinished and badly executed work. Those who choose their work because it fulfills a purpose they approve are the only ones who grow in stature by working. They alone can properly say, at the end of it, "It is finished!"
 
This sense of vocation is sadly lacking nowadays. The blame should not be placed on the complexity of our economic system, but on a collapse of our spiritual values. Any work, viewed in its proper perspective, can be used to ennoble us; but a necessary prelude to seeing this is to understand the philosophy of labor.
 
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 or woman who argued that he or she could get as much exercise by sloppy technique on the courts would 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, someone 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 worker should be aware of the second purpose at all times – as the artist is aware of the aim of beauty in his or her painting and the housekeeper is aware of the need for neatness when cleaning.
 
Today the first aspect of working has become paramount, and we tend to ignore the second, so that many workers 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".
 
Legitimate pride in doing work well relieves it of much of its drudgery. Some people, who have held to this craftsman's standard, get a thrill from any job they do. They know the satisfaction of "a job well done" whether they are engaged in caning a chair or cleaning a horse's stall or carving a statue for a cathedral. Their honor and their self-respect are heightened by the discipline of careful work. They have retained the old attitude of the Middle Ages, when work was a sacred event, a ceremony, a source of spiritual merit. Labor was not then undertaken merely for the sake of economic gain, but was chosen through an inner compulsion, through a desire to project the creative power of God through our own human effort.
 
(Excerpt from: "Way to Happiness" by Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen)
 
 
 
REFLECTION ON THE ARCHBISHOP'S WORDS:
 
In his meditation, the Archbishop hits on a very obvious fact in life: many people are working at jobs they don't like to do. Surveys have been conducted that confirm a high level of unhappiness among many workers. The Archbishop points out that one of the most obvious reasons for this is because economic necessity forces people to work at jobs that do not give them a sense of satisfaction. He concludes that this lack of enthusiasm and of recognition of any importance to their work leads to that work being done poorly and often never completed. Someone once had a little sign in the place where he worked which sums up this point perfectly: "For those of you who don't believe that the dead can come back to life, you ought to be here at quitting time!"
 
The Archbishop points out that the common negative attitude toward one's job is a result of the collapse of our spiritual values. As he puts it in his meditation, "Any work, viewed in its proper perspective, can be used to ennoble us." Some people see no purpose to work because they are simply lazy. The famous remark of Mark Twain expresses this fact: "I love work! I can watch it being done all day long!" The Archbishop says that the key to finding satisfaction in our work is to not approach it primarily for the earning of wages but to work at it in such a way as to accomplish the task in accordance with its own standards of excellence. In other words, in whatever kind of task we do, we must seek to accomplish that task in a worthy manner. This is an expression of our own self–respect. A person can throw a meal together because he or she and others have to eat. That will probably not produce much satisfaction for the harried cook. On the other hand, even a person with less culinary talent may take up the challenge with the help of a cookbook or two and prepare a surprisingly delicious meal. The ultimate result will be a sense a satisfaction along with recognition of "a job well done" by those who had enjoyed the meal.
 
We have certainly lost the attitude of the Middle Ages, where work was looked upon as "a sacred event, a ceremony, a source of spiritual merit." Work is essential to our well being and overall happiness as human beings. After all, when God created our first parents, He placed them in the garden with the task of taking care of it. When we are willing to do our best at the task at hand and not simply tolerate it as an unavoidable burden, the drudgery will be taken out of it.
 
Through work, we can develop the creative talents and abilities that God has given to us. Work also helps us to relieve tension, while at the same time, helping us to develop and express our creative talents and abilities. It greatly depends on the attitude we take to the task. Let us remember that even God Himself worked in creating the world and still remains at work in sustaining it. He has not carried His work out begrudgingly but does so to show us His immense love. Let us learn from Him and carry out our own work ultimately as an expression of our love for Him and others.
 
Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR
Vice-Postulator of the Cause
Written at 1:57 AM by Luminaria2112.
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