God at Work

ONE RECENT morning, eight-year-old Mario was going door-to-door asking neighbours in the dispossessed South Central Los Angeles area for canned food. Although the boy and his family struggle to survive, Mario, a third grader at 52nd Street Elementary school, was not begging for himself. He was proudly participating in a school program.

  That program was initiated by teacher Jill McLaughlin. Shortly after starting her new job as a teacher in the depressed South Central Los Angeles area, McLaughlin quickly became aware that many of her students’ families lived in poverty and that even providing food was a challenge. Rather than ask outsiders to help meet the need she organized a school-wide food drive. Participating are some 40 inner-city third, fourth and fifth graders who collect canned and dry food for distribution to needy families. The result has been personally rewarding for teacher McLaughlin, who says, “I saw the students get a sense of empowerment. They came to the realization that the community belongs to them”.

  Jill McLaughlin is a person who knows how to bring spiritual discipline to bear at her workplace. Rather than simply do her job teaching and then return to the comfort of her own home, she applied the spiritual discipline of compassion to the needs she discovered in her place of work.

  When people hear the phrase ‘spiritual discipline’ they immediately think of a tranquil retreat setting where one has ample time to pray, study and reflect. Yet, spiritual disciplines must not be relegated to a few weekends a year or to an hour on Sunday morning. The disciplines of spirituality can and must be brought to bear at our place of work, places where most people spend forty or more hours every week. Here are seven spiritual disciplines to apply in the workplace. 

 

The Golden Rule 

  

  The place of work would be more harmonious and people would be more fulfilled if every worker applied the spiritual discipline of the Golden Rule: Do for others what you want them to do for you (Matthew 7:12). Simply paraphrased, the Golden Rule tells us to treat others the way you want to be treated. One who applied this spiritual discipline at his place of work was Marshall Field, the legendary founder of the Chicago department store which bears his name.

  Field was once approached by a frightened but courageous youth whose job was package wrapper in the shipping department. The young man pleaded with Field for an opportunity to do more important work. He explained he had asked his supervisor, but had been turned down three times. The department store owner was impressed by the youth’s initiative and by his desire to learn other aspects of retailing, and so investigated. “Why don’t you advance him?” he asked the supervisor. “Because he’s the best wrapper I have,” the man replied. “I need him and want him to stay on that job”.

  Field, well known for his understanding ways of treating customers and employees, gave the boy his promotion. The young man’s name was Harry Selfridge. At 30 he became a partner in Field’s company. Later he went on to found the famous Selfridge Department Store in London, England.

 

Respect toward all others 

  

  Treating other persons in the workplace with fairness and equality is another important spiritual discipline. We must exhibit an honest respect toward all others regardless of their race, religion, colour, or ethnic origin. We must view each one of our work colleagues as our neighbour. In Biblical terms we are commanded to ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’ (Leviticus 19:18).

  A man who exercises the spiritual discipline of respect toward others is S. Truett Cathy, founder and CEO of Chick-fil-A restaurants which today number nearly 1000 across 35 states. Born on March 14, 1921 in rural southern Georgia, Cathy grew up in the deeply segregated south. Yet, as he was developing his chain of restaurants, Cathy was also willing to defy social conventions by employing African Americans. He did this long before the advent of civil rights. In 1948 he hired Eddie J. White, a 12-year-old African American youth. “You have to understand the times”, says White. “This was the time of segregation. But he was like a second father to me. He didn’t even think about it”.

  White was the oldest of seven children in a poor family, and he was planning to drop out of high school to help support the family. “That didn’t fly with Mr Cathy,” he says. “He came and talked to my parents and arranged for me to be able to work and stay in school.” Later when Cathy learned that White would not go to his senior prom for lack of money, Cathy paid for White’s tuxedo and gave him spending money. “He also let me drive his spanking new Mercury”, White delightfully remembers. 

 

Self-respect

  

  Along with the spiritual discipline of respect for others we must also practice self-respect in our work. “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might,” is the command of Scripture (Ecclesiastes 9:10).

  The fact is that all work is honourable, and by working we contribute to the common good. This truth is made abundantly clear in these words written by construction worker Peter Terzick. In the book Of Human Hands: A Reader In The Spirituality of Work, he eloquently summarizes his work in construction this way:

   I am a building tradesman . . .

   My predecessors created the

   Hanging Gardens of Nebuchadnezzar

   and patiently put together the Parthenon.

   My successors will construct

   platforms in space and way stations on the stars.

   I harness the rivers, bridges, the inlets,

   Disembowel the mountains,

   and level the valleys to make the nation strong

   in war and prosperous in peace.

   The mightiest skyscraper begins

   with a stake I drive in the ground

   and ends with the turn of the owner’s key

   in a lock I install. 

 

Praise and giving thanks 

  

  This discipline has been somewhat ‘formalized’ through special days: Secretaries Day, Bosses Day, Labour Day, birthdays, annual performance review, various anniversaries such as 25th, 30th, 50th etc. However, there are many days in between when others need to be praised and thanked for their contribution. Praise is desirable, pleasing, warming, encouraging, energizing, empowering and reassuring. Humans crave it and live on it like bread. 

 

Listening 

  

  Too many workers, supervisors, managers, executives are guilty of not truly listening when others speak and share concerns. Listening is a serious responsibility which must be raised in the consciousness of today’s workers. A nineteenth century Jewish story tells of two Eastern European rabbis who were travelling together and ate a meal at an inn owned by a pious widow. While eating, one rabbi engaged in a long, detailed conversation with the rather talkative woman. The other rabbi sat quietly and, when not eating, turned his attention to a holy text he was studying.

  When they rose to leave, the widow refused to let the rabbis pay for the meal. Outside, the more welcoming of the two turned to his friend, commenting, “It seems to me that you are guilty of stealing a meal from that woman”. His friend looked up in astonishment, and retorted, “She herself told us that we didn’t have to pay”. The first rabbi responded, “The woman didn’t want us to pay money, but the payment she wanted was that we listen and talk to her. This you didn’t do”. 

 

Serving 

  

  In the workplace, the natural tendency to be on the receiving end – receiving a bonus, receiving an attractive salary, receiving a promotion – must be balanced by the spiritual discipline of serving. If someone in your workplace is suffering, reach out with compassion. If someone in your workplace has become chronically ill, offer practical aid. If someone in your workplace has been downsized, connect them to other potential job opportunities. If a family member of a work colleague has been diagnosed with a life threatening illness, do whatever you can to ease the heavy load your colleague will be carrying. “A person should be more concerned with spiritual than with material matters, but another person’s material welfare is his own spiritual concern,” declared Rabbi Israel Salanter (1810-1883), a Jewish leader who emphasized ethical self-improvement.

 

Personal integrity

  

  The word ‘integrity’ simply means honesty and sincerity. Both of those qualities are much needed in today’s places of work. Duplicity, hypocrisy, and insincerity among work colleagues is a major source of discouragement and disillusionment in the work place. An inspiring example of the spiritual discipline of integrity was demonstrated during the 1996 US Amateur Golf Championship. The two leading competitors were Tiger Woods and Steve Scott. On the green of the final hole, Steve, one up, was putting first. Tiger’s ball was in Steve’s putting line, so Tiger spotted his ball a club head’s length and marked it. Steve putted and missed.

  If Tiger sank his next putt, the match would go into sudden death. Tiger carefully circled the green, viewed every possible angle, and had lined up to putt when Steve reminded him that he hadn’t moved his ball back to the original spot. After making the correction, Tiger sank the putt. Tiger won the match in sudden death, giving him an unprecedented third straight US Amateur Championship, and catapulting him into the pro ranks with an unheard of $60 million in guaranteed endorsement fees.

  Had Steve Scott not reminded Tiger to re-spot his ball correctly, and had Tiger then putted from where it lay, Tiger would have been penalized two strokes and lost the championship. Steve would have won the championship, but would have lost something of more value: his integrity.







  Finally, with a little thought and creativity, one can come up with other spiritual disciplines to apply in the workplace. None of them will disrupt the flow of work, but each of them will enhance the quality of life in the workplace. By applying spiritual disciplines to the workplace, the environment is humanized and the soul is revitalized.