Theological Questions at Work
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to be a bit more deliberate in thinking about theology in the workplace (and this blog as a form of lay ministry) without lapsing into theology proper, which is often completely incomprehensible to most of us. There’s a discussion in the UU blogosphere about how to develop curriculum for lay people in theology. I have some emerging thoughts on that, but more immediately, I’ve found that I can adapt some of the theological questions here for the workplace. (Of course, I’m not so sure these are solely theological questions. They’re certainly moral, spiritual, and religious as well.)
What is the purpose of work in my life?
Where is God (the holy, a divine presence) at work?
How can I reconcile my own suffering at work (and the suffering of others) with the necessity of work?
Why do hurtful things happen to me at work?
How can I best deal with troublesome people at work?
What do I owe my coworkers? What do they owe me?
How can I find joy at work?
Why do I make mistakes and screw up at work? And how can I best succeed?
Anything you’d like to add that you think about? Or modify? Or subtract? Sometimes I think the larger question that keeps arising is, “How can I be moral in a workplace that seems amoral?”
On a completely unrelated note, I’m interested in your perspective on this post as I think it touches on a couple of themes you’ve written about before.
CC
I’m thinking about it, and started a comment as a response, but then I became involved with a little person.
In any case, it is sort of theological in a “what are our responsibilities to others?” sort of way.
Sort of related to the last one, how can I find meaning in a job that is not creative and not… I guess the word would be philanthropic (not uplifting to the world except in the economic sense)?
Altruistic, maybe? That’s a good question.
“How can I be moral in a workplace that seems amoral?” ….or immoral as the case may be?
that’s a biggie!
and the altruistic one is too
looking forward to your ideas on those
I keep meaning to respond to your comment, Kel, and I end up distracted. My fault.
Yes, the immoral v. amoral thing fascinates me. I used to think it was all immoral, but recently I’m struck by the amoral nature of some workplaces, especially with the financial crash.
The right work is not as damaging to you as the wrong work. I tried sales for example, and the constant rejection just beat my spirit down. Other people thrive at getting out and calling on people. Ask an artsy fartsy type to wear a suit and do paperwork all day without making any errors and you could make them so miserable its unbelievable. So a big question is how to find what work is “right” for me, and then where to get that work. A accountant or engineer type would be just as unhappy doing arts and crafts or trying to write poetry all day.
In response to finding the purpose in one’s work: If we look back at every generation in history, including the Bible—there were many, many professions. There were artisans, farmers, police, politicians, physicians, janitors, etc. Even the prostitutes in the Bible earned their place in history (not that I’m encouraging that). So as David says, to find the RIGHT work (ie the work that you were uniquely created to perform) is to fulfill your unique purpose. Maybe God needs one of His daughters to have a re-fi on her condo—ya never know! Whatever you’re created for, go for it!