Putting Prayer and Devotion First

As I continue to pray over Francis’ words on work, I am confronted with the back half of the quote I have been working with.

“…..the spirit of holy prayer and devotion, which all other temporal things should serve, …..”

These fourteen words capture the reason I have struggled so much with work ethic as it relates to my career.

This is because I do not believe that American culture supports this point of view.  I do not think that when push comes to shove, American workers are expected to put “a spirit of holy prayer and devotion” ahead of temporal concerns, particularly when those temporal concerns involve money and profit.

Perhaps working in the construction industry, which is highly money centric, distorts my outlook.  But I will share a couple anecdotes (among many I could offer) to demonstrate my point.

I was managing a renovation project on a building that had a shingle roof and aluminum gutters.  During the summer, we replaced both.  When the first heavy snow came, the gutters became filled with ice, and were damaged.  The cause of the ice dams was insufficient insulation in the roof, but the renovation plans had not called for the insulation to be supplemented, or even checked.

The owner, even though he understood this, asked me to find a way to force the contractors involved with the project to perform the repairs at no additional cost.  When I refused, he further pressured me by informing me that I would not work for him on future projects if I did not do as he asked.  And as a result, I no longer work for him.

I recently had another owner ask me to ignore the requirement for an occupancy permit prior to a closing because he was desperate for the cash flow.  The final inspection ahead of this permit includes the fire department signing off on life safety issues.  Plus its how they become informed that a new building is being occupied.  When I mentioned the liability if a fire occurred, I got an answer that included the words “so be it.”

How am I supposed to be enthusiastic about my career when such things occur?

And even more importantly, how am I supposed to be enthusiastic about my culture if such occurrences are more norm than exception?

I think Francis is exactly correct in what he has expressed here.  I desperately want to live a life where all my temporal activities (and especially my work activities, since they take up such a large part of each day) support a spirit of holy prayer and devotion.

In this America, it’s not easy, and its getting harder.  Often it feels impossible.

But I remain hopeful.  I trust that if I keep God at the forefront of my approach to work, He will guide me to a place where I can reconcile the need to support my family with the need to be faithful to His will.

I just have to stay mindful, so I recognize His hand when it presents itself.