EmployeeNext: Creating success and joy at work

I’ve just spent the weekend at a retreat led by a wonderful Catholic priest from Los Angeles, Father Terry Richey. If LA is the City of Angels, he certainly is one of them for me. While I am not Catholic, I did get my childhood education in a Catholic Montessori school. Perhaps that is part of the basis of my love of ritual and tradition. I remember the Latin Mass and being mesmerized by it. But I do not ever remember thinking of the priests as real people, human beings with feelings and experiences that I could relate to.

In my pursuit of my spiritual truth, especially recently, I have spent a great deal of time expanding my understanding of Christianity, and quite a bit of that work has been done in retreat under the guidance of Catholic priests. I have been surprised — in the most joyous and exciting sense of that word — by their vision, deep commitment, humor, love, insight, and most especially, their real humanity — mistakes, flaws, conflict, small victories, and feelings just like mine. I would never have imagined I could identify so completely with someone who on the surface lives a life so different than my own.

How often do we pass each other by because the surface — the exterior — we notice as we glance at our fellow human beings seems so different from ourselves we assume the soul which animates the body we see has nothing in common with our own? How many opportunities for true friendship and sharing are lost?

Father Terry shared with us in a quietly powerful and honest way. Diocesian priests see all varieties of the human experience, much like a policeman or a nurse or any other professional who has chosen a life of service to other human beings. He has seen and experienced much more of life than I, and has done so with an open heart.

I expected a spiritual experience this weekend and received one. I did not expect to also receive powerful wisdom on corporate life. But Father Terry shared some thoughts that were powerful relating to our experience at work.

He suggested that many people substitute their careers for a spiritual life. They define themselves by their success, their “role” as it is defined at work. They receive their sustenance in all forms there — in the form of validation of self-worth, financial success, personal power, and personal growth. For after all, what is it we seek? Especially if we are dominated by our egos? We seek prestige, power, affluence, praise, respect, approval, and the loyalty of others. Work gives us a context, a structure — we can usually figure out the rules, plot a course of action, and get the expected result. And its measurable. In an ego-based “I’m better than you, less than you, catching up with you …..” way.

It is this substitution that gives us the illusion of happiness and fulfillment. And it is an illusion. It’s temporary. Because if our faith is dependent upon an external system, rather than an internal connectedness to a higher self, we are at the mercy of a material, rather than a spiritual master. And when that material life ends, as it must, we are suddenly bereft, adrift, alone and in need of a new faith.

True faith in a spiritual power never ends. It will always nurture us, love us, show us mercy and promise hope. It will guide us and provide intuition and right direction. It will give wisdom and comfort in our most desperate times, and rejoice with us at our happiest moments. Spirit is always on our side.

When Father Terry shared that idea it resonated with me. In the early years of my career, I did exactly what he was describing — I turned every aspect of my life over to my employer. I worshiped at the altar of the American Dream. And for a time, all was well. But the price was high. Failed relationships. Friendships neglected. Pleasures set aside for lack of time and interest.

One day, if we are listening, we begin to hear the quiet voice of the heart calling us back home to spirit. And we understand that a rich and rewarding spiritual life and a successful and rewarding work life are not mutually exclusive.

Paradoxically, a rich spiritual life increases all other areas of our lives, even (perhaps especially), our work. Spirit has that way of filling up all the empty spaces, drifting like a lovely scent into the atmosphere of our day to day experiences. Animating all our interactions, going quietly with us on our way. Like a shadow, an aura, the thinnest spider web of safety net. Silken armor we need never remove.

I’d suggest we look at our emotional investments in our work. Are they out of balance? Are we overly dependent on work to provide for us what rightly is found through a strong personal faith and system of values? Can we, through pursuit of spiritual principles and commitment to the total well-being of ourselves and others, improve our lives and by that, our work as well?

It is misplaced to look to anything outside of ourselves — work, family, our partners, our possessions — to bring us wholeness or joy. That is the province of spirit. My own experience has taught me that if I feed and water spirit first, the seeds that are spread cause the whole garden of my life to bloom and grow — in abundance.