Program / Course 3: The Rule of Life / Lesson 6.3
What you will learn
- Explain how Scripture and the monastic rules treat work as part of the spiritual life.
- Describe the Protestant doctrine of vocation and the Orthodox and Catholic teachings on work.
- Explain Brother Lawrence’s practice of the presence of God in ordinary tasks.
- Identify the dangers of making work an idol or of neglecting it.
The big idea
Work is not a break from the spiritual life but part of it. Scripture shows human beings given work before the fall, and the monastic rules joined prayer with manual labor. The Latin phrase ora et labora, pray and work, summarizes the Benedictine way, though it is not found in the Rule itself. Protestants teach that ordinary occupations are callings. Brother Lawrence found God among his pots and pans. A rule should respect work, neither idolizing it nor despising it.
Key terms
- Ora et labora
- Latin for pray and work. A later summary of the Benedictine ideal of life, not a phrase from the Rule itself.
- Vocation
- A calling, from the Latin for a call. In Protestant teaching, God calls people to ordinary work as well as to church service.
- Idleness
- In the monastic tradition, a restless or aimless inactivity, which Benedict calls the enemy of the soul.
- Presence of God
- A practice of keeping awareness of God during ordinary activity, taught by Brother Lawrence.
- Stewardship
- Responsible care of what has been entrusted to a person, including time, talents and goods.
- Burnout
- Exhaustion from overwork, with cynicism and reduced effectiveness. It is a physical and mental condition, not only a spiritual one.
Background
Scripture presents work as part of creation. God put the man in the garden to dress it and to keep it (Genesis 2:15). After the fall, work became hard: in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread (Genesis 3:19). The law commands six days of labor and one of rest (Exodus 20:9-10). Paul worked as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3), told the Thessalonians that if any would not work, neither should he eat (2 Thessalonians 3:10), and urged the thief to labor with his hands so that he might have to give to him that needeth (Ephesians 4:28). In Colossians 3:23 he writes that whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord.
Among the Greeks and Romans, manual labor was often held in contempt as unfit for free men. Christian monasticism reversed this. Pachomius’s monks wove mats and baskets, and Benedict’s Rule, in chapter 48, says that idleness is the enemy of the soul and sets hours for manual labor and for sacred reading. It adds that if local conditions require the monks to do the harvesting themselves, they should not be distressed, for they are truly monks when they live by the work of their hands.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: Prayer and work in the monastic rules
In the monastic tradition, prayer and work interpenetrate. The day is divided between the Work of God, in the hours of prayer, and the work of the hands. Neither is allowed to eat the other. The bell calls the monk from a task to prayer, and he is told to put down even what he is writing. Work in turn is done with the mind on God. Cassian reports that the Egyptian monks prayed psalms or short prayers as they wove baskets.
The point is not that work is a punishment or a mere means of support. It disciplines the body and mind, guards against idleness and supports the community and the poor. Basil says that work supplies what the community and the poor need.
Step 2: Vocation in the Reformation
The Reformers, Luther especially, taught that all legitimate occupations are callings from God. A farmer, a mother, a magistrate or a maidservant serves God in the work, and God works through human labor to provide for others. Luther denied that a monk’s life was higher than the life of a householder. Calvin likewise taught that God assigns each person a station and that diligence in it is a form of obedience.
This teaching has shaped much of Western thought about work. Scholars debate how far it influenced the economy. Its spiritual point is that no honest work is beneath God. Critics note that vocation language has sometimes been used to keep people in poor jobs, and that the teaching was not meant to justify unjust conditions.
Step 3: Catholic and Orthodox teaching
Catholic teaching on work was developed in modern times in papal letters on labor, including Rerum Novarum (1891) and Laborem Exercens (1981) by John Paul II. These teach that work has dignity because the worker is a person made in God’s image, that workers are owed just wages and rest, and that work participates in God’s creative work.
Orthodox writers such as Alexander Schmemann describe the world as given by God to be received with thanksgiving and returned to him. Work is part of this priestly vocation. The monastic tradition in the East also joins manual work and prayer.
Step 4: The presence of God in work, and its dangers
Brother Lawrence (c. 1614 to 1691) was a lay brother in a Carmelite house in Paris who worked in the kitchen and repaired sandals. His conversations and letters, collected after his death, say that he found God in the kitchen as in the chapel, and that he kept himself in God’s presence by short acts of attention and thanks. He did not teach a technique but a habit of turning to God in whatever he was doing.
Work also has dangers. It can become an idol, when a person finds identity or worth only in productivity. It can become a means of avoiding family or prayer. It can also be neglected, when a person despises ordinary tasks as unspiritual. A rule of life should set limits on work, protect rest and prayer, and treat work as a place of love.
- How do I think about my work: as a burden, an idol, a service or a calling?
- Where in my working day could a short prayer or act of thanks fit?
- Do I treat some tasks as unspiritual?
- Is my work harming my family, health or prayer?
- Whom does my work serve?
- What would a rule that respected both work and rest look like for me?
Examples
Prayer at the workbench
A carpenter says a short prayer as he begins a job, thanks God when he finishes it and prays for the client. He does not use many words. (A constructed example.)
Work as idol
A manager works eighty hours a week and misses meals with his family, telling himself he is providing for them. His daughter tells him she misses him. He shortens his week and sets a time for evening prayer. (A constructed example.)
Kitchen as chapel
A mother cleaning the kitchen late at night offers the work for her children and says a psalm as she dries the dishes. (A constructed example.)
Different perspectives
The Benedictine and Catholic view
Work and prayer are both part of life ordered to God. The Rule sets times for each and demands moderation. Modern Catholic teaching adds the dignity of the worker and the right to just wages and rest.
The Orthodox view
The world is received as a gift and offered back to God. Work is part of the human calling to be a priest of creation. Monastic life joins manual work with prayer and offers a pattern for laity.
The Lutheran and Reformed view
All lawful work is a calling. Faithful work in one’s station serves neighbors and honors God. This teaching dignifies ordinary jobs and critiques the idea of a spiritual elite.
The critical and social view
Some thinkers argue that vocation language has been used to excuse unjust labor conditions, and that work can be exploitative. Christian traditions respond that the dignity of the worker requires just treatment, and that work is not an end in itself.
Why it matters
Most waking hours of most adults are spent working, paid or unpaid. A rule of life that ignores work leaves most of the day outside the spiritual life. Joining prayer to work is among the oldest and most practical ideas in the tradition, and it needs no extra time.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Ora et labora is a phrase from the Rule of Benedict.
Correction: It is a later summary of Benedictine life. The Rule speaks of the Work of God, manual labor and sacred reading, but does not use those words.
Misunderstanding: Only religious work is spiritual.
Correction: Protestants teach that all honest work is a calling. Catholic and Orthodox teaching also holds that ordinary work can be offered to God.
Misunderstanding: To be holy, I should work as hard as possible.
Correction: The tradition warns against overwork. The Sabbath, the hours of prayer and the Rule’s measure all limit work.
Knowledge check
What does chapter 48 of the Rule of Benedict say about work?
It opens by saying that idleness is the enemy of the soul and sets hours for manual labor and for sacred reading, adjusted to the seasons. It also says monks are truly monks when they live by the work of their hands, as did the fathers and apostles.
What is the Protestant doctrine of vocation?
That God calls people to ordinary occupations as well as to church service, so that the farmer, the mother or the magistrate serves God in their work. Luther denied that monastic life was higher. Calvin taught that diligence in one’s calling is obedience.
Who was Brother Lawrence, and what did he teach?
Brother Lawrence (c. 1614 to 1691) was a lay brother in a Carmelite house in Paris who worked in the kitchen. His letters and conversations, collected after his death, teach the practice of the presence of God: short acts of attention and thanks during ordinary work.
What are the dangers connected with work?
Work can become an idol when worth is found only in productivity, a means of avoiding family or prayer, or something despised as unspiritual. A rule should limit work, protect rest and prayer, and treat work as a place of love.
Think it through
- What part of your work could be offered to God?
- How do you decide how much work is enough?
- What would a short prayer for your workplace be?
Independent assignment
Work and prayer in a day
In your notebook, write 300 to 450 words. Describe your usual working day, paid or unpaid. Mark three points where a short prayer or act of attention could be placed. Write the prayers. Keep them for a week and record what happened. Add a paragraph on any limits to work you think your rule should set. Do not post it.
Further study
- Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God Read the conversations and letters.
- Benedict of Nursia, The Rule of St. Benedict Read chapter 48 on daily manual labor.
- John Cassian, The Institutes Read Book 10 for Cassian’s account of work among the Egyptian monks.
- Martin Luther, The Small Catechism Read the table of duties for callings.
- Genesis 2:15 Work before the fall.
- Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, do it heartily.
- 2 Thessalonians 3:10 If any would not work.