Reflection #50 The Toxic Myth of Hard Work
The Gap Year: Life in Transition
“Love turns work into rest.” ― Teresa of Avila
In religious institutions, where I worked, and the medical community, in which my spouse worked for forty years, there is an obsession with work and business as virtues. It was a toxic myth that the harder I worked the closer I was to God. The expectation was that I was to go above and beyond for an institution that fed its needs. I am far from alone.
On the other hand, Dale-- as a registered nurse, and I are fortunate that our employment through these years has been life-enhancing work. We have worked within organizations whose values mostly align with our own, even if they, and we fell short of our standards. Some of my family and friends have not been so fortunate and have had to hold jobs that were not aligned with their values. And,I fear that work that destroys life can consume the soul as well.
Now I see that I’ve been shedding my identity with the institutional church for years. I discovered that my sense of being a pastor, helper, and spiritual guide has remained throughout and was not necessarily tied to the organizational church as I’d once thought. I launched a nonprofit, 501(c3) Spiritworks, Inc. years ago while earning my Ph.D. Then teaching college and graduate courses in spirituality and in my final ten years, hospice bereavement work. Still, I find myself hesitating to move from active ordained status to retired status. After all it cost me to gain my place, shedding my place in the organization feels like another dismissal of who I am.
Do we want to reach the end of our days and have our obituary read, “Here is someone who worked really hard.” My spouse put it this way. If you put your finger into a bucket of water and pulled it out there would be a few ripples for a moment. Then all would be as calm as before. No one would know that, only a minute before, your finger had been there. On the other hand, when it is time to move on? To change the form once again? How do we know when this round is completed, and another can begin?
Now it’s your turn. Take time to reflect and, if in a group, share as you feel able.
Looking back on past work and employment I think:
a) the organizations were fundamentally detrimental to my well-being. b) I was fortunate that my employment was life-enhancing. c) I worked within organizations whose values aligned with mine. d) It’s time to move on and begin again.