Work and Spirituality

Many Christians would not consider their daily work as “spiritual”; what is spiritual, they think, are preaching, praying, and the like. Thomas Merton in Life and Holiness thinks differently:

 … one’s daily work is an all important element in the spiritual life, and that for work to be truly sanctifying the Christian must not only offer it to God in a mental and subjective effort of will, but must strive to integrate it in the whole pattern of Christian striving for order and peace in the world. The work of each Christian must be not only honest and decent, it must not only be productive, but it should contribute a positive service to human society. It should have a part in the general striving of all men for a peaceful and well-ordered civilization in this world, for in that way it best helps us prepare for the next world.