Work as self-care

[Paidiske]

This article really resonated with me. Like others, I've often found work - preferably meaningful - to be my best form of self-care.

In a world where women are often denied meaningful work of their choice, I thought it was worth sharing and discussing:

'Self-care' isn't just about relaxing. For me, it's about work

 

[Zoii]

Interesting article. I certainly had a notion of self care to mean a set of things that are about self-preservation and mindfulness. This broadens it a lot. I quite liked her thoughts and her application to work. Self care to me is thinking about whats going on for me emotionally and monitoring and managing it through a whole bunch of things including exercise, art, keeping a journal and poetry.

 

[Paidiske]

It's interesting you should mention art. I've taken up drawing since I was ordained; I didn't really have any interest before, but now I think I need an outlet for the emotion associated with all the things that confidentiality means I can't talk about.

 

[Zoii]

It's interesting you should mention art. I've taken up drawing since I was ordained; I didn't really have any interest before, but now I think I need an outlet for the emotion associated with all the things that confidentiality means I can't talk about.

Dont you have supervision ? That being compulsory counselling yourself for the issues that confidentiality brings to you.

 

[Zoii]

Art allows you to package thoughts and feelings in a way that surpasses the limitation and inadequacy of words.

 

[Paidiske]

Well, in theory I have supervision. In practice I have in mind to seek a new supervisor in the foreseeable future. But even with that, there are things you can talk about and things that you just can't.

Is that your work? It's very striking!

 

[Zoii]

Yes its one of mine.

 

[Greg J.]

Humans (under the curse of the fall) need to work to be fulfilled. Of course, what counts as that kind of work is disputable. My experience is that it is different for each person. However, over all of it is the fact that refreshment comes from the Lord, not from our own efforts. You can go on a vacation and not come back refreshed at all, or your youth can be renewed as you spend all your time serving the needy. As a result, living according to who we are in Christ is a good goal to have. Until we have perfect faith, we will have human limitations which we learn about as the years go by (proverbially, until our "golden years"), some of which the Lord has caused or allowed and need to be accepted (with discernment by the Holy Spirit), rather than to be battled to overcome them physically/mentally/emotionally. We battle against life's troubles so that God will grant us to overcome everything in spirit.

There is a time to heal, a time to laugh, a time to dance, a time to be silent, and a time for peace (extracted from from Ecclesiastes 3:1-8).

The theology of work is a big topic and a lot of resources can be found about it.

 

[Dave-W]

Yes its one of mine.

Nice!

 

[Paidiske]

Greg, I think the problem with the idea that we should strive to live according to who we are in Christ, for women, is that our societies are often - and it was worse in the past - structured in such a way as to make that particularly difficult for women.

 

[Greg J.]

I can't say it is otherwise, although I can say that anyone who lives according to who we are in Christ will face trouble and persecution of one form or another. The path of seeking greater respect for women is a good path, but unfortunately attitudes entrenched in culture take a long time to change.

A handle onto moving forward in a positive direction for anyone is to invest in personal devotion to Jesus, and whenever we are obedient, he becomes responsible for the consequences and will be faithful in exercising his power for us. But we must be willing to accept whatever he causes or allows. This path takes us through times of joy and times of trial, but our faith grows from it, and to the degree we have faith, Jesus will live through a person, and nothing in all creation will stop God from doing what he wants to do through a person (and reward them for it).

God has prepared simple and quiet lives for us all; the problems come when the world intrudes into our lives. It is near impossible to keep it from affecting us, but it is possible to learn to give all one's hopes and desires to the Lord through which we gain steadfast peace and joy amidst it.

While tangential, this is something related and very important:

There is an important pattern of behavior in God's nature every Christian would do well to be drawing on. These three passages are talking about the same quality of God's nature.

The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? (1 Corinthians 6:7, 1984 NIV)

But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. (Matthew 5:39-42, 1984 NIV)

If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. ”Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:18-21, 1984 NIV)

(Burning coals is something in all humans that when triggered results in a recognition of one's unholiness, resulting in either humility/love or irrational [spiritually evil] anger/rebellion.)

Humbling oneself when being persecuted opens a huge door to God's power to either bless you or deal with it for you (or both). This is receiving/exercising the power of the cross. I am not aware of any greater power accessible to humans. It has an effect like "leaving room for God's wrath" (from Romans 12:19). When we humble ourselves due to recognizing that it is God who has allowed the evil to hurt us, God practically rides down on a chariot to bless us and deal with the situation the way he wants to—which sometimes is to let it go on for a while and store the blessing up in heaven, but (the reason I mention it) is also sometimes amazingly fast and powerful to rescue and bless us.

It is why God can stress the importance of obeying those he (or we) have caused or allowed to come into some sort of authority over us (boss, parent, government, husband), because it is the same as being obedient to God in God's eyes. If we have a dying-on-the-cross-if-you-want-me-to attitude, God will do amazing things in response. If one is new to Christ, it might take a while (i.e., years) to see the effect, but it is so worth it. It is not an attitude of suppressing rebellion against the evil because God allowed it, but rather of humbling yourself before God with a willingness to participate in unjust suffering as a way of experiencing unity with Jesus—with a confidence that God is going to reward you massively in return.

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. (James 4:10, 1984 NIV)

 

[Paidiske]

Is the implication of your post, Greg, that you think that in facing employment structures and so forth which shut them out, women should not seek to change them through human activity, but should leave it up to God?

 

[Greg J.]

Not at all. I am talking about the heart Jesus had that is available to us. Gluing oneself to that approach is spiritually profitable. It is one way to deal with all prejudices and conflicts by anyone. If done persistently, I think you would find that Jesus often starts doing sorta of what you wanted through you, however with his power and not yours. However, as with Jesus, it might get you killed (or some analogue). However, I think it is good to work to fix biased or absurd employment structures and hindrances at both the personal and corporate level.

 

[Fantine]

I have always Had jobs I enjoyed and which gave me fulfillment--but they haven't been very financially rewarding. My income was always the secondary income--and if I were self-supporting I don't know whether I would have had the luxury of having fulfilling jobs without seriously impacting my family's creature comforts.

Even now, with a retired husband, his income dwarfs my income from employment.

I know that he enjoyed his work, too, for the most part (primarily information technology management at levels from manager to director to VP) but there were some times he didn't. It wasn't the work, but the politics. The last company he worked for (13 years) put their employees through hell and lots of layoffs in order to maximize profits for the investors who weren't working. Now, 3 1/2 years into his retirement, this company is being sold in pieces, and he is faced with the sorrow of seeing lots of people he cares about being unleashed into an unpromising job market in their 50's...

He always saw his job as managing people--and he put people first. This company just cared about maximizing profits. Ugh! Even if you like the work, the company can poison the experience.