Work, Who needs it?

Many people struggle with work for a variety of reasons.  That person may be in a dead end job, they may have difficult relationships with co-workers, they may be over-worked, over-looked, under-appreciated, or they may just not like what they are doing.

They bible says that man must toil each day for their bread.  Work isnt play, thats why its called work, sorry to state the obvious. We all toil in one way or another, it may not feel good, but at its core it is a great good.

The goal of the Christian life is to attain the beatific vision, or see God in the face, which would place you right smack in Heaven. So how can our Christian faith help us at our work and how can our work help us to live our Christian faith better.

These tasks are especially challenging if you find struggle at work, which is most likely a high probability. But without out this struggle how can one continue to grow, it helps us to gauge the strength of our character. I was given a great tip at one point time, which I didn't understand immediately.  This person said to "make YOU the object of your work."  Its certainly an interesting concept.

What making YOU the object of your work means is taking the focus off of what you are doing and put the focus on you and how you are doing it.  If you try to live virtuously and work virtuously you will be successful.  Doing your best will never leave you wanting more.  Whey YOU are the object of your work, you will flourish because you are trying to be your best.  If your focus is solely on your work you will do what you need to do to get the job done, which is fine, and will pay the bills, but what is it doing for your soul.  Whatever you are working on tomorrow, think about how you could become a better person by doing it, can you not take as many breaks, not chat so much, write slower and clearer, give an encouraging word, or put yourself in another's shoes to try and understand why they may be so upset today. Regardless of the task, its you who is being worked on.

Work can bring you sanctity, it can make you holy.  This is actually the goal of the Catholic religious order Opus Dei, or Work for God.  This group may sound familiar because of  Dan Brown's sensationalization of this group in his books The Davinci Code and Angels and Demons.  This group challenges its members, mostly lay men and women (not priests or nuns), to live heroic lives of virtue.

We can all make the world a better place through making our place of work a better place and focusing on virtue in a vice filled world.