The Jesuit Guide To (Almost) Everything - James Martin [160]
A SPIRITUALITY OF WORK
Even if you have a good idea of your vocation, you may still have a hard time finding God at work—whatever it is. What does the way of Ignatius have to say about finding God on the job?
Before entering the Jesuits, I spent six years in a large corporation, so I know something about the “real world.” But when I entered the Jesuits, I didn’t stop working! During my formation I worked in a large hospital in Cambridge, Massachusetts; taught in an inner-city school in New York; managed a shop and microfinance operation in Nairobi for two years; and worked as a chaplain in a prison in Boston.
And for the last ten years I’ve worked at a weekly magazine, a professional workplace that includes meetings, deadlines, budgets, job evaluations, and an eclectic mix of colleagues with a wide variety of personalities and temperaments that sometimes gives rise to differences and disputes. And even though Jesuits don’t have to worry much about salary increases, downsizing, or climbing the corporate ladder, Jesuits are expected to work hard.
Like the vast majority of those in the workforce, I try to be a good employee, a good colleague, and a good manager. So, in many respects, my situation may not be so different from your own. And through the lives of my non-Jesuit friends, who work in a variety of professions, I try to keep up with the challenges of other sectors of the working world. In short, I think I have a good idea of the challenges of living a spiritual life on the job.
And there are many. Living a spiritual life in the working world has grown increasingly challenging as more and more demands are placed on employees. So here are what I observe to be the main challenges of maintaining a spiritual life from nine to five—and some perspectives, using some of the Ignatian practices we’ve been discussing.
Finding Time for God and You
Nine to five? More like 24/7! Time is at a premium for most people in the workforce. Despite vaunted increases in productivity and technology (anyone remember how the personal computer was going to lead to four-day workweeks?), the amount of time demanded by companies from their workers has only increased. Round-the-clock markets; round-the-clock financial news; and round-the-clock access with e-mail, cell phones, BlackBerrys, and laptops often translate into round-the-clock work. Moreover, decreasing job security and increasing numbers of dual-career households mean more stress and less time for married couples and parents.
So the first challenge: how can you make space for a life of prayer and worship?
When I recently asked some friends about this, a few suggested that the only way to do this is to sacrifice time at work. “It’s a conscious choice,” said one friend who works in a large corporation. While he found it difficult, he said he could avoid what he called the “trap of constant work” only by sacrificing some upward mobility and choosing to spend time with his family and on his spiritual life. Otherwise, he said, one’s life becomes informed solely by work, and without the nourishment of either individual or communal prayer, one’s spiritual life slowly atrophies.
But while my friend is a busy man with a growing family, he is also successful financially and can afford to sacrifice a bit of upward mobility. It’s more difficult for those struggling to make ends meet: the single mother working two jobs or the underpaid employee desperate to earn a better living for his family and hang on to his health insurance, both stretched to the limit.
A few years ago I co-edited a book with Jeremy Langford called Professions of Faith, in which we asked various Catholics