Mindfulness of God in the workplace:
Divine help in keeping perspective

"Tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow, creeps in this petty pace from day to day," wrote Shakespeare.  Some of us might want to frame this as a motto to place on our desks at work!  The boredom of daily routine drives us to despair.  We think that if we changed our job, didn't have the boss that we do or else hung out with other people at work, life wouldn't be so dull.  But what if we simply became more "mindful of God" at work and in other life contexts?  And how do we go about achieving this? 

One of the many things that I admire about the Orthodox Church is the use she makes of outward symbols and rituals.   

Indeed, one of the repeated criticisms of the Eastern Church is precisely about these.  Western Christians seem to be emphasizing internal pious feelings and faith stripped of symbolism and spiritual gestures etc.  It is only now that the West is looking eastwards in a sense of greater appreciation of the role of rituals and symbols in affirming unseen ideals. 

In the aftermath of the September 11^th tragedy, what we see happening among Americans is precisely a return to familiar symbols shared in common. 

American flags and pins are not only everywhere evident in the U.S. but also here in Canada among those who wish to demonstrate their solidarity at this time of sadness and crisis. 

And leave it to Martha Stewart to develop a unique method of creating beaded flag pins! 

"God bless America" is on everyone's lips.  A friend who attends university in New York told me that his way of showing patriotism is to write out "United States of America" on all his letters . . . 

Iconoclasm is not only condemned by the Church, but also by human experience. 

Symbols are things that we see and feel.  They represent a greater reality, whether seen or unseen.  They makes us mindful of their presence with us, of our identification with them and with what they stand for.  Ultimately, they point to our belonging to a group that also shares the same values. 

We never feel alone with a symbol. 

The Eastern Church has a very rich tradition of symbolism and ritual that we are called to make us of in our daily lives as Christians. 

We can and should use them in all life contexts, including work.  We are, in fact, a "Royal Priesthood, set apart," as St Peter reminds us.  Our ultimate path to God is what these symbols and rituals speak to us about, through the day and throughout our lives. 

Ultimately, this is something each of us will have to experience for ourselves.  What follows are some suggestions that might assist us.  We, of course, can develop and adapt our own traditions as we go along and new paths become open to us. 

Our workweek, most of us probably feel, leaves us little time for prayer and the things of the Spirit. 

If we travel via public transit, the next time we are on a subway or bus, we should look around and inspect what others do with the time they spend riding to and from work. 

I've noticed that many are actually praying, whether on carefully concealed prayer beads, or from prayer books and Bibles. 

We too can take with us a Psalter or other prayers from the Hours and a prayer book. Perhaps a spiritual book can be read on the bus, something that we simply don't have time to tackle at work or at home.   

The nice thing about being on the bus or subway is that we are basically at the mercy of the transit system.  Apart from packed public vehicles moving slowly in traffic, the only annoyance is lack of patience in wondering why the drivers don't hurry up. 

The time would go by much less stressfully and more meaningfully if we dedicated it to the Psalms or to the Jesus Prayer.  No one has to know what we are doing.  We are reading or praying in our hearts.  And we don't do this to "make a show" of our piety. 

However, we might even attract others to join us in prayer.  When there is an awareness that someone on the subway is praying, others seem to reach into their pockets and pull out a well-worn New Testament and Psalms as well. 

Several times in the past,  I have been asked by my neighbours sitting next to me what it was that I was reading. 

Once their interest and faith were established, I made a present of my psalm-book or other prayer book to them so they could share in a spiritual experience as well.  Freely we have received, freely we are to give! 

And we can also punctuate our work day with references to the Hours, especially at lunch, if we do get a lunch hour! 

We can even begin each hour with the saying of the Jesus Prayer several times, or even a full hundred on our prayer rope. 

I used to have really bad days at work.  Whenever they happen now, I just focus on the prayer of the Church.  Truly, we are united with Christians in the greatest Cathedrals as well as with the loneliest hermits in the caves in the side of mountains when we pray the Hours!

Making the holy Sign of the Cross frequently, using the Jesus Prayer, is a wonderful way to begin and end our actions, our projects as well as our snacks and meals.  This Sign refreshes our minds and thoughts.  It warms our hearts and helps put things in perspective once again.

Bad thoughts, despair etc. should be seen for what they truly are, temptations from the Evil One (no, I don't mean the boss!). 

The Sign of the Cross destroys such thoughts and feelings, much like Moses parting the Red Sea with his staff.

An excellent way to be mindful of God throughout the day is to wear a good-sized Cross around our neck.

Sometimes a larger Cross serves to bring our souls back to a focus on "what it's really all about." 

We feel it on our chests as we walk or shuffle about the office.  We sense its movement and how it tugs at our necks, as if God Himself kept His Hand on us to protect us, while giving us the odd tug to keep us focused on Him, to pray and not worry.

Recently, I have seen three-inch Crosses being sold in a religious store ons thirty-inch chains or cords.  Together, the number is 33 or the number of years our Lord lived on earth.  What a wonderful reminder of the sacrifice of Christ for us!

A little icon or medal of the Most Holy Mother of God can also be worn around the neck to remind us of God's Incarnation and how He bent the heavens and came down to become Man through the Virgin Mary. 

There was a tradition where Orthodox laity used to wear icons sewn into the inside of their coats and jackets.

There is no reason why we could not pin an icon pin into the inside of our business attire.  As we fumble about for pens, pads and reminder notes in the inside pockets of our jackets with nervous fingers, they will come upon these pins and we will be jolted into, once again, putting things back into spiritual perspective.

Our prayer rope should always go with us as well.  Never leave home without it!  One never knows when one can pray on it.  Rather than wait nervously to see someone before a meeting, why not use the time to refresh ourselves with the Jesus Prayer?

People these days where malas and friendship bracelets around their wrists.  What would happen if we wore a small prayer rope around ours?

Rather than see our desk as a forbidding support for endless paperwork and problems that we don't really want to face "just yet," we should consider it to be a kind of altar on which we offer to God our work and suffering. 

We can and should find a spot on our desk for a little icon corner, nothing large, but something that is protected and seen largely by us, unless, of course, someone comes around to speak to us . . .

A diptych with Christ and the Mother of God, the Holy Trinity, or even a small standing Cross with a copy of the New Testament,  these can make for a handsome icon corner, a place of blessed peace to which we can turn frequently throughout the day and a source of blessing for us and all those who work with us!

Our office icon corner would be the first place we turn to when we come into work, and the last place we gaze at just before we leave for home.

And surely one of our desk drawers may serve as a storage space for some liturgical and other spiritual books!

We might even wish to choose a meaningful spiritual pin to wear on our lapels, whether a fish symbol or something else.

Let us leave all this to our individual creativity.  Let us place ourselves frequently in the Hands of the Most Pure Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ for help. 

That way the daily crosses that we must bear won't seem so terrible.  As one writer said, She will dip those crosses in the sweetest honey for us and make our burdens feel light.

Dr. Alexander Romanalex@unicorne.org