Dearest dancing monks, artists, and pilgrims,
Tomorrow Simon and I will be joined by guest musician and Wisdom Council member Jamie Marich for our monthly Contemplative Prayer Service. Our theme this month is the 5th principle of the Monk Manifesto. Here is an excerpt from our Monk in the World self-study retreat.
Principle 5: I commit to bringing myself fully present to the work I do, whether paid or unpaid, holding a heart of gratitude for the ability to express my gifts in the world in meaningful ways.
Work is an important element of monastic life. Benedict called for his monks to live by the work of their own hands. Monastic spirituality calls us to be present to the gifts of meaningful work, work which gives us shelter and food, work which allows us to be a part of something larger than ourselves, work which gives us space for creative expression.
Work isn’t always what we are paid to do. Meaningful work is rooted in our sense of vocation – what we have been called by God to offer in service through our unique gifts. Work, as Joan Chittister writes, is co-creative. It contributes to the flourishing of heaven on earth.
As monks in the world, work life is perhaps the hallmark of our relationship to our communities. It is often the place where we make our offering. Even if our work feels tedious, we are called as monks to be present to each moment and enter into it with love. In this way we grow in freedom and discover how we are being called even more deeply to transform the world.
We live in a culture where “work” almost seems to be a bad word. We trudge to our jobs, complain about the hours we keep, work ourselves to exhaustion, and come home and buy more things so we need to work longer hours to sustain us. For many of us, work is a way to pay the bills, and nothing more.
For others, our work may feel like a calling, but perhaps we go underpaid, under-appreciated, and are moving towards depletion and burnout, especially if we are also trapped in the cycle of overconsumption the world around us lures us into. The giving that once enlivened us may be starting to wear thin, we may be feeling frayed.
An essential part of our work is to be aware of the unjust conditions many are forced to work in, in a capitalist system and to let our work be in service of the liberation of others.
What would it mean for you to bring yourself fully present to each moment of the work you do, aware of the sacredness of it, conscious of the miracles happening all around you?
And what would it mean if your work were not just a means to an end, that is a way to pay the bills, but also a practice in itself of bringing yourself present to each moment, even when the experience doesn’t feel radiant and charged with meaning?
Barbara Holmes says that when we least expect it, “during the most mundane daily tasks, a shift of focus occurs. This shift bends us toward the universe, a cosmos of soul and spirit, bone and flesh, which constantly reaches toward divinity.” The mundane, the tedious, the necessary work can be a portal into the presence of God in all moments and places if we stay awake and alert to the possibility.
What difference would it make if you believed that your work makes a difference in the world, that the world needs what you have to offer? Contemplative practice reminds us that God invites each one of us in every moment to respond to our unique call.
Please join us tomorrow, Monday February 3rd, for our Contemplative Prayer Service.
With great and growing love,
Christine
Christine Valters Paintner, OblSB, PhD, REACE