On the Meaning of Labor
On this Labor Day, a quotation from John Henry Newman:
IT is the saying of holy men that, if we wish to be perfect, we have nothing more to do than to perform the ordinary duties of the day well. A short road to perfection—short, not because easy, but because pertinent and intelligible. There are no short ways to perfection, but there are sure ones.
I think this is an instruction which may be of great practical use to persons like ourselves. It is easy to have vague ideas what perfection is, which serve well enough to talk about, when we do not intend to aim at it; but as soon as a person really desires and sets about seeking it himself, he is dissatisfied with anything but what is tangible and clear, and constitutes some sort of direction towards the practice of it.
We must bear in mind what is meant by perfection. It does not mean any extraordinary service, anything out of the way, or especially heroic—not all have the opportunity of heroic acts, of sufferings—but it means what the word perfection ordinarily means. By perfect we mean that which has no flaw in it, that which is complete, that which is consistent, that which is sound—we mean the opposite to imperfect....
He, then, is perfect who does the work of the day perfectly, and we need not go beyond this to seek for perfection. You need not go out of the round of the day.
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Feb '11
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
Reminded me of a passage from St-Exupery, who among other things was a reconnaissance pilot during the campaign of 1940:
I am working at my trade, when it comes down to it. What I am experiencing is no more than the physical pleasure of acts that are nourished with meaning and sufficient unto themselves. I feel neither a sense of great danger (my anxiety was very different when I was dressing), nor any sense of a grand duty. The conflict between the West and Nazism is compressed here into the scale of my actions, my actions on handles and levers and valves. That is how it should be, just as the sexton's love for God becomes the love of lighting candles. The sexton walks with a steady step through a church that he scarcely sees, and is content as he sees the candlesticks blossoming one by one. When they are all light, he rubs his hands together. He is proud of himself..
(Flight to Arras)
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
Superb. And you're right, I think: St. Exupery and Newman are making the same point. Life comes to us one step, one act, one small, ordinary duty at a time.
Sep '10
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
Peter Robinson
Superb. And you're right, I think: St. Exupery and Newman are making the same point. Life comes to us one step, one act, one small, ordinary duty at a time. · Sep 5 at 10:11am
My turn to say: beautifully put.
Jan '11
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
Peter, you've ruined a post I was working on, but I don't mind. I was preparing a reflection on the occasion of Labor Day based on Centesimus Annus, an encyclical from John Paul II testifying to the nobility of work:
Newman's words, however, capture the essence of that nobility.
I just wanted to add, however, that when a man (or woman) is out of a job, it isn't just an economic problem. It's a spiritual problem also. Work is how I apply all my experience and education, and how I exercise my skill and creativity. If you take away my job, you take away the tangible, day-to-day exercise of those skills and creativity. It frustrates the soul.
Sep '10
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
KC Mulville: Peter, you've ruined a post I was working on, but I don't mind. I was preparing a reflection on the occasion of Labor Day based on Centesimus Annus, an encyclical from John Paul II testifying to the nobility of work:
Newman's words, however, capture the essence of that nobility.
I just wanted to add, however, that when a man (or woman) is out of a job, it isn't just an economic problem. It's a spiritual problem also. Work is how I apply all my experience and education, and how I exercise my skill and creativity. If you take away my job, you take away the tangible, day-to-day exercise of those skills and creativity. It frustrates the soul. · Sep 5 at 11:02am
Very, very good point that many people miss.
Oct '10
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
I do not argue against the propostition as stated. However, I will point out that the biblical idea of perfection is not that of the ordinary meaning as stated by Cardinal Newman, but one of maturity in Christ. "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt 5:48) does not exhort us to be godlike but to be like God, whole and complete.
Dec '10
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
This discussion reminds me that excellence is a habit, not a goal or an event.
Apr '11
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
A different view of the same point was made by what a college classmate referred to as "one of those annoying Jesuit boy saints", John Berchmans, perhaps. At recess the seminarians were arguing about what one should do if he learned that he would die in five minutes. There were various proposals: run pray in the chapel; run find a priest and go to confession; &c. Berchmans was known for his piety, so his opinion was sought for the most effective spiritual booster shot.
To everyone's surprise, he said "I would continue to walk about talking with my friends". When pressed for an explanation he said that recess was the appointed activity, and he couldn't ask for more than to die doing what he was supposed to be doing.
Catholic biblical evangelist Jeff Cavens notes that in Acts 10:9, Peter goes up on the housetop to pray at the sixth hour (mid-afternoon)because it is the hour of the last sacrifices of the day in the Temple. Jeff suggests pausing about then to do a little reality check that one is doing what he is supposed to.
Jan '11
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
St. Ignatius, founder of the Jesuits, taught a spiritual exercise called "the examen." I still do it today (well, OK, not as often as I'd like). It's supposed to be a brief exercise where you "retreat" from the concerns of the day, and ask where you found God today. Other than Mass, Ignatius considered it the most important event of the day.
They don't tell you this, but the secret to the examen is this: the only way to successfully answer where you found God during the day is ... to look for God during the day. If you don't, the prayer becomes hypocrisy very fast.
Apr '11
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
I don't see how you get from 1 and 2 to 3.
May '11
Re: On the Meaning of Labor
Peter Robinson: He, then, is perfect who does the work of the day perfectly, and we need not go beyond this to seek for perfection. You need not go out of the round of the day.
This idea has been perverted by Socialist and Progressives. They teach that man, practicing progressive ideology, can in fact become perfect...can become God. This then defines the basic immorality of the Socialist/Progressive ideology.
This brings to mind men who have worked their whole lives who die soon after being forced into retirement. We are often told that our jobs are not our lives. And yet, the fulfillment from doing ones job well each day is irreplaceable.