All work is empty save where there is love.
Most of us go to work to earn money, pay our bills, have a night
out every now and then, try and put some money in savings or investments.
Work for most of us isn't a labor of love, but a means to an end. Does
that mean that all of our work is a waste of time if we don't love it? I
don't know about a waste of time if it is providing us with many of the things
that we want, but I don't think that Khalil's use of the word "empty"
is synonymous with the idea of wasting time--rather, "empty" means
unfulfilling, unrewarding.
And doing our work with love isn't the same as doing our work that we
love. We don't even have to particularly like our jobs in order to do
them with love. I have done "empty" work, especially when it's
been busy work that's served no real purpose (this happened a lot in the
Army!), but usually, the gratification that I have or haven't gotten from my
work has depended on what I've given it.
The most important questions we can ask ourselves are these: Could anyone
else in the world come in here and do this work exactly how I do it? and Am I
staying focused on doing my absolute best and turning this work into a personal
triumph, or am I just getting by until the end of the day when I can clock out?
If we're doing our very best and contributing our unique abilities and
perspectives, we can be sure that we're not doing empty work, no matter how
others may react. I've seen people who turn their jobs at Wal-Mart into a
chance to brighten the days of the customers with cheerful greetings and
compliments and encouragement for the kids, and I've seen gloomy Wal-Mart
associates that I don't even want to go near because it looks like they'll get
angry at me. Which ones are doing the empty work, and which are doing
work that's fulfilling to them?
The bottom line is that work is empty if we don't bring love to it. Work
is fulfilling if we bring love to it, whether it's work in our gardens or at
our place of employment. How we bring love is up to us, and it depends
upon our gifts and abilities. But bring it we must, if our work is to
mean anything to us, to the people we work with, to the people we work for, and
to the people we serve with our work.
* * * * *
Questions to consider:
* * * * *
Questions to consider:
What does it mean to you to show love at whatever type of work you're doing?
Why do so many people separate concepts like love and work in their minds and in their lives?
List three ways that you might be able to do your work with more love.
* * * * *
For further thought:
Why do so many people separate concepts like love and work in their minds and in their lives?
List three ways that you might be able to do your work with more love.
* * * * *
For further thought:
The beauty of work depends upon the
way we meet it, whether we
arm ourselves each morning to attack it as an enemy that must be
vanquished before night comes--or whether we open our eyes with
the sunrise to welcome it as an approaching friend who will keep
us delightful company and who will make us feel at evening
that the day was well worth its fatigue.
arm ourselves each morning to attack it as an enemy that must be
vanquished before night comes--or whether we open our eyes with
the sunrise to welcome it as an approaching friend who will keep
us delightful company and who will make us feel at evening
that the day was well worth its fatigue.
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