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Reflections
on the Meaning of Work and
the Challenge of
Being Unemployed
Joseph Gosse, who was himself unemployed, wrote in
The Spirituality of Work--Unemployed Workers
that reflecting on the “spirituality of work” might help
unemployed workers “view unemployment as a time during which
spiritual disciplines are sharpened and relationships
strengthened” -- an opportunity “to find a new vantage point, a
different frame of reference.” We present these reflections on
the meaning of work and the challenge of being unemployed in
that spirit and that hope.
• • •
Work Surpasses All Other Elements
Human work...surpasses all other elements of economic life,
which are only its instruments.... By their work people
ordinarily provide for themselves and their family, associate
with others as their brothers and sisters, and serve them; they
can exercise genuine charity and be partners in the work of
bringing God's creation to perfection. Moreover, we
believe by faith that through the homage of work offered to God
humanity is associated with the redemptive work of Jesus Christ,
whose labor with his hands at Nazareth greatly added to the
dignity of work. This is the source of every person's duty
to work loyally as well as of their right to work; moreover it
is the duty of society to see to it that...all citizens have the
opportunity of finding employment.
-- Second Vatican Council,
Church in the Modern World
(1965). #67.
• • •
"Work Must Be
Accommodated to the Person"
Since economic activity is, for the most part, the fruit of the
collaboration of many, it is unjust and inhuman to organize and
direct it in such a way that some of the workers are exploited.
But it frequently happens, even today, that workers are almost
enslaved by the work they do. So-called laws of economics
are no excuse for this. The entire process of productive
work...must be accommodated to the needs of the human person and
the nature of his or her life.... Workers should have the
opportunity to develop their talents and their personalities in
the very exercise of their work. ...[T]hey should...be
allowed sufficient rest and leisure to cultivate their family,
cultural, social and religious life. And they should be
given the opportunity to develop those energies and talents
which perhaps are little utilized in their professional work.
-- Second Vatican Council,
Church in the Modern World
(1965). #67.
• • •
Work is for Man,
not Man for Work
In
fact there is no doubt that human work has an ethical value of
its own, which clearly and directly remains linked to the fact
that the one who carries it out is a person, a conscious and
free subject, that is to say a subject that decides about
himself…. Such a concept practically does away with the
very basis of the ancient differentiation of people into classes
according to the kind of work done.
This does not mean that, from the objective point of view, human
work cannot and must not be rated and qualified in any way. It
only means that the primary basis of the value of work is man
himself, who is its subject. This leads immediately to a
very important conclusion of an ethical nature: however true it
may be that man is destined for work and called to it, in the
first place work is "for man" and not man "for work"….
Given this way of understanding things, and presupposing that
different sorts of work that people do can have greater or
lesser objective value, let us try nevertheless to show that
each sort is judged above all by the measure of the dignity
of the subject of work, that is to say the person, the
individual who carries it out. On the other hand:
independently of the work that every man does, and presupposing
that this work constitutes a purpose--at times a very demanding
one--of his activity, this purpose does not possess a definitive
meaning in itself. In fact, in the final analysis it is always
man who is the purpose of the work, whatever work it is
that is done by man--even if the common scale of values rates it
as the merest "service", as the most monotonous even the most
alienating work.
-- Pope John Paul II. Encyclical Letter
Laborem exercens (1981). #6.
http://www.vatican.va/edocs/ENG0217/_INDEX.HTM
• • •
Unemployment is a 'real
social disaster'
...In considering the moral
implications that the question of work has for social life, the
Church cannot fail to indicate unemployment as a "real social
disaster"....
Work
is a good belonging to all people and must be made available to
all who are capable of engaging in it. "Full employment"
therefore remains a mandatory objective for every economic
system oriented towards justice and the common good. A society
in which the right to work is thwarted or systematically denied,
and in which economic policies do not allow workers to reach
satisfactory levels of employment, "cannot be justified from an
ethical point of view, nor can that society attain social
peace"....
...The high level of unemployment, the presence of obsolete
educational systems and of persistent difficulties in gaining
access to professional formation and the job market represent,
especially for many young people, a huge obstacle on the road to
human and professional fulfilment. In fact, those who are
unemployed or underemployed suffer the profound negative
consequences that such a situation creates in a personality and
they run the risk of being marginalized within society, of
becoming victims of social exclusion....
-- Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace.
Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church
(2004) #287, 288, 289.
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/pontifical_councils/justpeace/documents/rc_pc_
justpeace_doc_20060526_compendio-dott-soc_en.html#Work%20is%20necessary
• • •
I am who I am,
not what I do.
-- Anonymous
• • •
Not Being Abandoned by God
No matter what the reason for the loss of a job,... the event
itself is often traumatic, and reactions can range from
resignation to anger to elation. When I myself was let go
after five years as an admissions counselor at a welding school,
for example, my first reaction was shock and disbelief. I
knew what a good job I was doing and how important my work was,
yet I discovered that my opinion of my work was not shared by my
employers. I then went through a long period of depression
and self-doubt: How could I have been so blind to the situation?
How could the people I trusted (my employers) have betrayed me?
...I began looking for another job without much success. It
was only after a long period of prayer and the encouragement of
my family and friends that I eventually came to see that my
unemployment was an opportunity for me to learn more about who I
really am and what I really want to do. I discovered that
losing a job is not an example of being abandoned by God...."
--Joseph Gosse in The Spirituality of Work--Unemployed
Workers (1993).
• • •
Infusing
Spirituality into Your Job Search
As you embark upon the task of infusing spirituality and the
sacred into your job search, I want to suggest twelve principles
for your consideration. I urge you not to skip across them
lightly. Think about each one in its turn and allow the full
meaning of each concept to enter the depths of your being.
1. I have a sacred purpose for being upon the Earth at this time
and in this place.
2. I have everything I need for my purpose in this life.
3. The foundation for my spiritual search is a daily,
fundamental openness to the lessons that are
continuously being presented to me.
4. It may be necessary to create a radical break from my routine
, from the way I have always done
things.
5. I will embrace and welcome uncertainty, ambiguity – even
failure – into my life, knowing that the
seemingly chaotic is the ground of all creation.
6. Things are not always what they appear to be; life is an
every-changing kaleidoscope.
7. The Creator and the created are inseparably linked.
8. I will look for the places of humor in my life and remind
myself to enjoy the comedy.
9. I will listen to the wisdom that is within me.
10. I will listen to the wisdom that is around me.
11. I will be open to the lessons and opportunities in life’s
paradoxes.
12. I will follow my heart.
--
William Carver in The Job Hunter’s
Spiritual Companion (1998).
• • •
A Time for Retreat and Reflection
Being unemployed can either lead to a downhill slide into
depression and frustration or it can be the opportunity for
grace, an occasion for the exercise of the fruits and gifts of
the Holy Spirit. Unemployment can provide a period of
boredom and idleness or a time for special retreat and
reflection, during which we gain a new perspective or fresh
outlook on who we are and what we might do....
Unemployment can supply an opportunity for meditation and
reflection on who we are apart from the roles defined by our
jobs. It can be a catalyst for deepening our own sense of
self-worth and meaning. We can think again about this
question of Jesus: What will it profit us if we gain the whole
world and suffer the loss of our undying souls?
--Joseph Gosse in The Spirituality of Work--Unemployed
Workers (1993).
• • •
A Serious Examination of
Some Basic Life Style Values
Unemployment may offer us an opportunity to re-evaluate our
values. Of course, in one sense, this condition is forced; we
don’t choose to be unemployed. On the other hand, what we do
with our unemployment, how we react to it personally, what
effect it has on our emotional and spiritual life, is ultimately
a personal choice.
While it would be unrealistic to thank God for the opportunity to
be unemployed, it is possible to use this experience as a
serious examination of some basic life style values. Valuable,
critical questions can be asked–questions like: What do I really
need to be happy? How much income must I have in order to
survive? What really happens to me if I lose many of the things
I have taken for granted? Can I view myself as a worthwhile,
valuable person even when I am unemployed?
Answers to these and similar questions, asked at a time when
experiencing unemployment, may prove extremely helpful for the
rest of our lives. Without minimizing the hardships and
sacrifices, both financial and emotional, associated with many
cases of unemployment, it is still possible, from a [faith]
point of view, to discover the presence of God in this
circumstance and to benefit from the experience.
--
Thomas Smith in God on the Job—Finding
God Who Waits at Work (1995).
• • •
Never Enough and Always
Enough
...Albert Einstein…said that the mark of a true genius is the
ability to hold two contradictory thoughts in one’s mind at the
same time. For some reason, this connected with my problem of
Jesus and the spirituality of work. I thought, If Jesus was
a genius (and I assume he was), what were the two contradictory
thoughts he held in his mind at the same time? I came up
with several pairs of ideas, but the one that jumped out at me
in terms of work is this: What if Jesus believed that—at any
given time and at exactly the same time—we have never done
enough and yet have already done enough?
As I began to look at some of the Gospel stories with this
contradiction in mind, they began to make sense to me for the
first time. I thought of the laborers in the field, the rich
young man, the woman at the well, and so on. In so many stories
Jesus seemed to be saying that if we think we have done enough
we have not, and if we think we have not done enough we already
have.
This contradiction seemed to fit the struggles I was having with
the ambiguities of the spirituality of work...and it has since
become the basis for my own understanding and practice. It
seems to me that whatever our work, we need to build into it
ways of reminding ourselves that there are self-imposed limits
to what we need or want or are capable of. We have to determine
what those limits are and stick to them if we are to be in touch
with God, who is always “enough.”
--Gregory F.A.Pierce in
Spirituality@Work--Ten Ways to Balance Your Life On-the-Job
(2001).
• • •
Turn to the Quiet Inner
Silence
Sometimes I’m running dry.
Nothing will come. I’m fresh out of ideas.
And so I turn to the quiet inner silence, the source of my
being, the center that gives me my mission and enables me to
fulfill my purpose.
--
William Carver in
The Job Hunter’s Spiritual
Companion
(1998).
• • •
Faith in God's Constant Presence
When a person is unemployed it is easy for him or her to start with
the negatives: rejection, disappointment, discouragement, and a
raft of ill feelings. Some unemployed workers quarrel with
God.... Other unemployed workers begin by bargaining with
God.... Still others feel that "God does not care...."
In all cases, however, faith in God's constant presence and love
must be the starting point -- not a bargaining chip or an
accidental circumstance -- for all workers, including those
unemployed....
We can encounter God in the process of reading employment ads,
sending resumes, making phone calls, networking, waiting to see
a prospective employer, or being around the home, with the
family, in the community, and in church. It all depends on
the attitude of the unemployed worker.
--Joseph Gosse in The Spirituality of Work--Unemployed
Workers (1993).
• • •
All Work Is Profoundly Religious
…[A]ll work is profoundly religious, even if we are not conscious
of that fact. Work is nothing less than human participation in
the divine creativity expressed in the creativity of the
universe. Work is a fundamental cultural way by which we reveal
God’s actively creative love. Work is a fundamental cultural
place where we express our dynamic rootedness in the rest of our
natural world, and ultimately in the Creator.
How imbalanced then to suggest today that only certain works are
religious. Or that work is a distraction from knowing God. Or
that work is a curse from sin. Or that work is only a means for
buying things….
What we call in a narrow sense “religious” is only legitimately
religious to the degree that it affirms, heals and celebrates
the basic religious experience of life. Work is thus a
foundation of worship, and worship is authentic only when it
grows out of work.
--Joe Holland in Creative
Communion—Toward a Spirituality of Work (1989).
• • •
Life Is Not Static but Dynamic
…I want to propose a stance toward living and working…. It is the
stance suggested by the word “sojourner.” To sojourn is to
occupy a place, but for a limited period of time. It is to see
the place one has as a kind of way station—important, to be
sure, but part of the larger journey….
To be a sojourner is not to be indifferent to one’s employment
needs or to one’s surroundings and responsibilities in general.
But it is to see things in perspective. It is to wear one’s
“occupational identity” garments loosely…. It recognizes that
life is not static but dynamic and it allows for the fact that
movement and growth can be interior as well as exterior—and,
moreover, that exterior movement doesn’t have to be upward in
order to be significant….
To see oneself as a sojourner is to recognize that life is not a
group of isolated transitions but that it is in fact an ongoing
transition—broken, to be sure, by plateaus, by resting places,
by oases, but nonetheless an ongoing journey, of which job work
is but a party. It is to realize that identity is not a role
one occupies. Rather, it is through engaging with life on our
journey that we call forth an identity—not as something to be
labeled but as an awareness to be experienced.
-- Earl Harrison in
You
Are More Than Your Job—Making a Living vs. Making a Life
(1993).
• • •
The Road of Life
At first, I saw God as my
observer, my judge, keeping track of the things I did wrong, so
as to know whether I merited heaven or hell when I die. He was
out there sort of like a president. I recognized His picture
when I saw it, but I really didn't know Him. But later on when I
met Christ, it seemed as though my life was rather like a bike
ride, but it was a tandem bike, and I noticed that Christ was in
the back helping me pedal. I don't know just when it was that He
suggested we change places, but life has not been the same
since.
When I had control, I knew the way. It was rather boring, but
predictable it was the shortest distance between two points. But
when He took the lead, He knew delightful long cuts, up
mountains, and through rocky places at breakneck speeds. It was
all I could do to hang on!
Even though it looked like madness, He said, "Pedal!" I worried and
was anxious and asked, "Where are you taking me?" He laughed and
didn't answer, and I started to learn to trust. I forgot my
boring life and entered into the adventure, and when I'd say,
"I'm scared," He'd lean back and touch my hand. I gained love,
peace, acceptance and joy; gifts to take on my journey, My
Lord's and mine. And we were off again.
He said, "Give the gifts away. They're extra baggage, too much
weight." So I did, to the people we met, and I found that in
giving I received, and still our burden was light.
I did not trust Him, at first, in control of my life. I thought
He'd wreck it; but he knows bike secrets, knows how to make it
bend to take sharp corners, knows how to jump to clear high
rocks, knows how to fly to shorten, scary passages. And I am
learning to shut up and pedal in the strangest places, and I'm
beginning to enjoy the view and the cool breeze on my face with
my delightful constant companion, Jesus Christ.
And when I'm sure I just can't do it anymore, He just smiles and
says... "Pedal."
--Author Unknown
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Posted 07.11.09 •
Last Update: 08.19.09
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