Liturgy for hope

In this stressful year filled with global crises, readers still worry about smaller things, which directly impact their lives. They ask for help in parenting (“The World’s Best Parenting Practices,” June 9, 2022), marriage (“Readers Ask About the Spouse’s Past and the Children’s Future,” Nov. 10, 2022) and business (“Help! My Nephew Is a Bum,” Feb. 10, 2022).

And they increasingly question the purpose of their jobs and enterprises.

The pandemic forced many people to come to terms with what truly counts in life. The idealistic young want to make a difference in society and fear stagnating in their family businesses. They are impatient with traditional conventions and long to take the reins, even as they fret about disappointing their elders.

Second-generation managers, caught between the demands of the young and the strictures of the old, envy the relative freedom of the former, even as they strive to obey the wishes of the latter. Having come of age half a century ago, they had no choice but to enter the family business straight out of school. But today, these middle-agers find their lives to be empty outside of work, and some are tempted to find fulfillment elsewhere.

I hear from patriarchs and matriarchs, who toiled their entire lives for the sake of the family, but who in their twilight years feel abandoned by loved ones. Many of their peers fell seriously ill or perished in the pandemic, forcing them to finally face mortality. They attempt to take stock of their lives and put their affairs in order. But several have regrets, which they feel they cannot atone for.

I suggest strategies to those at work, to maintain productivity even if their hearts are not in what they do. I recommend ways to facilitate more effective communication, within and among generations, with family members and with non-family professionals. I urge those in pain to seek therapy, so that their anxiety is not compounded by depression.

In this Yuletide season, we celebrate the birth of a Savior who loves His work. During His hidden years in Nazareth, Jesus worked beside His earthly father in their carpentry business, and during His public ministry, He worked with His heavenly Father in their mission to save a fallen world. Who better than Jesus to understand the pain of family members who feel trapped in their work, and who yearn for meaning in the labor of their minds, hearts and hands?

Let us join Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore of the Church of the City of New York in this prayer excerpt, taken from their book “Liturgies for Hope.”

“How long, Oh Lord, must I be reminded of the disconnect between my soul and the work of my hands? Everywhere I turn, the repetitive chants of ‘calling’ and ‘passion’ and ‘vocation’ strike a blow to my weary heart, for I have not yet found these things, though I have searched for them like treasure … Guard my hope, Oh God, against the cynicism that is determined to weaken it …

“Help me to have a right view of work. Rid me of the idea that there is a single job designed for me—a soulmate sort of calling—and do not let me spend my whole life in search of it. Guide me so I do not mistake normal frustration and the daily grinding of routine for evidence of a wrong career. Instead, confirm if there is a true mismatch between my gifts and my work, and reveal where the needs of this world are not met by my placement in this job or where I am serving a vision that does not align with Yours … Do not let me be swayed by the hope of wealth or prestige or even of ease but rather by the givenness of this work from You.

“As I wait for the fulfillment of this longing, I will turn my eyes back to this job I do not love and arrive with my full self, working as if working unto You. At the close of each day, may I feel without hesitation that I have served You well, and may You call the work of my hands ‘very good.’ May the people I work with notice a joyous gusto and a renewed tenderness of spirit … Amen.”

May the coming year bring hope and peace to us all. INQ