Issue 316
We continue to look at the task of solving the puzzle of love and work, identified by numerous thinkers as the key to a healthy life.
May I encourage you to think about a dynamic which is not always applied to work, but feeds into our task of puzzle-solving? This dynamic has to do with finding the reserves of energy required to work, which will not only enable you to do the work itself but also learn to love the work you do. On top of that, this energy will enable you to love the people with whom you work and, most demanding of all, it will key into your ability to be at ease with yourself as you work.
I suggest to you that many of the challenges which come your way at work will be connected to your own level of self-integration; put simply, are you comfortable with who you are? If not, then all kinds of behaviours will result out of your insecurities, inner-conflicts and struggles; you will possibly put people down, find it difficult to give or receive encouragement and strainm to celebrate your work.
This, of course, will affect your relationships with others with whom you work and colour your view of your work – resulting in a lack of enjoyment. In struggling to be at ease with yourself, it is, paradoxically, easy to become disenchanted or ‘fall out of love’ with your work and your team. Jesus’ best friend John, in his later years, identified a dynamic which revitalises all these areas. Interestingly, although he and all his co-authors of the New Testament challenge us to be ‘loving’ in a whole variety of contexts, he recognises that this alone will only result in exhaustion, stress and emptiness. You can see this care overload all around you, and it can be almost as destructive as ‘don’t care’ overload to the person giving it.
John’s dynamic, which he learned first hand from the leader himself, is that “we love because he first loved us.”
Now ask yourself – do I love my work? Whatever your answer, the clue to solving the puzzle at a deeper level is to allow yourself to be loved – this provides the energy to give out to or engage with your weekly life. Ask yourself if you love your team, your boss, your reports – not in a shallow sentimental way, but in a profound, professional and productive collaboration; again the energy will come as you are loved by God himself.
This part of the puzzle begs the question, “how can I learn to receive the energy of God’s love?” I would suggest this will find its answer in what you don’t do, rather than what you do. For now, you may need to learn to stay still long enough for him to transfer some energy into your soul. Next week we’ll search for some more pieces to add to our collection; if we’re careful we should be able to put them together.
1 John 4:19
19We love because he first loved us.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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