Journal of Sacred Work

Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you.
       -Lao-Tzu

   Wayne Mueller, in his marvelous book Sabbath describes the wisdom present in the Jewish day of rest. It begins at sundown. And the point here is that it begins at sundown no matter what time of day that might be – 4:30 in winter of as late as 9:00 in summer. This means stopping work not by whether the job is done, but by recognizing it is simply time to stop. What is the wisdom in this?…

   Mueller reminds us that Sabbath requires surrender. "If we only stop when we are finished with all our work," he writes, "we will never stop – because our work is never completely done."
   This is sound counsel for caregivers and their leaders who often become so committed to meeting the needs of those they serve that they become workaholics. I confess that this has been a lifelong problem for me. I have always had trouble knowing when to stop because the needs out there always seem so endless. Their endlessness is one of the reasons I need to spend more time in Sabbath rest. The needs will still be there after my rest and, with reflection, I will be better able to meet those needs.
   Workaholism is the most tolerated of all the addictive behaviors. That’s why its not so hard to confess. Tell your boss you’re an alcholic and you may be required to seek treatment as a condition for continued employement. Tell your leader you’re a workaholic and you might get a promotion.
   A true workaholic is someone who burns the midnight oil often doing meaningless and repetitive work because the act of working is the addiction. It’s a hard problem to treat because of the difficulty people have in accepting that it is a condition that actually needs treatment.
   Workaholics cause damage not only to themselves but to those around them. We know that self care and balance are critical to effective caregiving. Yet if I’m overworking, what message does this send to my staff when I ask them to "go home and get some rest?" Many of them can only think, "Why should I leave when you’re still here?"
   So workaholic behavior by a supervisor not only causes the risk of burnout but can lay an unhealthy guilt trip on staff members.
   This returns us to the wisdom of the Jewish Sabbath. We all need not only a day a week, but times across the week when we give ourselves permission to stop working, close our eyes, and rest. God calls us to take times of reflection, meditation and prayer so that we may experience the presence of God’s love and light. If we’re obsessed with task work, this can block out God’s presence and leave us living active but empty lives.
   Listen to the wisdom of the Sabbath. Allow times for rest. Know that the work is never done so that rest and Sabbath can restore the balance all of us need to be truly in touch with Love’s calling.

-Erie Chapman