Why work?
For the Benedictine spirit,
work is not simply work.
Whatever kind of work it is—
professional or technical,
physical or intellectual,
financial or social—
it is to be good work,
work that makes the world
a better, more just, more fair,
and more humane place.
for everyone.
The truth is that work has a spiritual function.
Good work is meant to build into us
a respect for the order and beauty
that the cultivation of the spiritual life
demands.
Good work is a human being’s
contribution to the development
of humankind
and the fulfillment of the universe.
It is about the bringing
of the reign of God on earth.
It is about
completing the work of God
in the upbuilding of the world.
Good work is our gift to the future.
It is what we leave behind—
our persistence, our precision,
our commitment,
our fidelity to the smallest and meanest of tasks—
that will change the mind
of generations to come
about our sacred obligation
to bear our share of
the holy-making enterprise that is work.
Then we shall truly be
authentic witnesses to the fact
that a life lived in the scriptures
shapes a universal heart
and rallies the global soul.
–from A Monastery of the Heart by Joan Chittister (BlueBridge)
