{"id":5633,"date":"2013-03-18T06:02:18","date_gmt":"2013-03-18T12:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/?p=5633"},"modified":"2013-06-13T18:23:40","modified_gmt":"2013-06-13T23:23:40","slug":"cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/","title":{"rendered":"How to cultivate spiritual peace at work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Anthony<\/a>
The Torment of Saint Anthony, Michelangelo. Wikimedia Commons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Things today seem more fragmented than ever. Try focusing on your job, for instance, amid the alerts for incoming email, social media updates, and meeting invites. Add to that phone calls, interrupting coworkers, and elastic tasks stretching past allotted times and squeezing into others. Nice knowing you, margin. And that\u2019s just what outsiders impose. <\/p>\n

Inside the mind there are \u2014 at least for me \u2014 forty-two stray thoughts trying to push to the fore, some succeeding and distracting me while I try to chase them down before returning to the job at hand. Oy vey<\/em>. But maybe things are really not more fragmented today. Maybe people have always struggled with distraction and finding singleness of mind. <\/p>\n

What the monk learned<\/h2>\n

After retreating to the desert, one of the very first monastics, Anthony the Great, fell into a spiritual \u201cweariness and confusion of thought,\u201d as it says in The Sayings of the Fathers<\/em>. The frustrated Anthony could not abide this and turned to God for help. \u201cLord,\u201d he prayed, \u201cI would be made whole and my thoughts will not suffer me. What shall I do in this tribulation, how shall I be whole?\u201d <\/p>\n

The answer in the third century is the same for us in the twenty-first. God sent an angel to model something for Anthony. He imagined seeing a man that looked like him working. As the man worked, he suddenly stopped, stood, and prayed. Then he sat back down to work, rising again after a time to pray. And so on. \u201cThis do,\u201d said the angel, \u201cand thou shalt be whole.\u201d Anthony did and \u201cfound the deliverance he sought\u201d (7.1).<\/p>\n

When our thoughts are fragmented, it\u2019s difficult to find meaning in them beyond the instant. There is no way to contemplate the whole because there is no whole, merely a jumble of particulars. Light comes in sharp flashes rather than a steady glow. As Anthony found, this state can be spiritually taxing. The heart longs for meaning, for an end to which all the particulars point. It is only when the particulars resolve into a larger pattern that the soul can rest. <\/p>\n

What the angel revealed to Anthony is that prayer becomes the end, prayer becomes the point. We give the endless tasks and distractions meaning when we pause for thanksgiving, when we turn to reflect on God\u2019s grace, when we plead for his mercy. Prayer takes up the shards, and God exchanges them for an unbroken whole.<\/p>\n

The necessity of patience<\/h2>\n

The text doesn\u2019t say how quickly this worked for Anthony. He was a spiritual master. I\u2019m nothing of the sort. So it should come as no surprise that I still struggle with this. Still, I would wager that he did as well. No matter the practitioner, prayer is a discipline that requires patience. <\/p>\n

When Isaac prayed for his barren wife, Genesis says that God answered his prayer. It also says that Rebekah gave birth twenty years later. Patience is similarly a prerequisite for spiritual growth. If we don\u2019t cultivate patience, we might as well give up the rest too.<\/p>\n

The Sayings of the Fathers<\/em> offers us a picture of this as well. A young monk went to an elder and said he was troubled and could find no peace. The old monk gave him advice, which proved futile \u2014 and then more advice which similarly proved futile. Wait a minute, said the elder. How long have you been suffering? Eight years, came the answer. That\u2019s nothing, the elder responded. \u201cI have been in this habit seventy years, and not for one day could I find peace: and you would have peace in eight?\u201d (7.5) We can excuse the exaggeration and appreciate the sentiment. The point is not that peace is impossible; rather that it\u2019s not instantaneous. The young monk was coming at the problem from the wrong angle. <\/p>\n

Me too, most of the time.<\/p>\n

Prayer gives us a path to walk<\/a> as much as a point to seek. It shapes our hearts as we work toward peace, and that shaping is an essential part of the process. There are no corners to cut here, though we want to do so when the phone chirps or the laptop dings. Let them be for the moment, and offer the hour to the Lord, who is the only one able to make sense for us of every hour.<\/p>\n

What would happen today if you could step away from the crises and chaos several times and refer it all to the Lord?<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Side note: Aids to prayer<\/h3>\n

Prayer is simple. And like a lot of simple things, it can be extremely challenging. Thankfully, the church offers many aids to prayer. Here are three:<\/p>\n

First, a prayer book.<\/em> Liturgical churches often employ service books for private and corporate worship. I use a few different Orthodox prayer books. They offer morning and evening prayer services, along with prayers for different occasions. The benefit is that they train my prayer life and provide the words I most need to say \u2014 that\u2019s particularly helpful when I don\u2019t have words of my own or feel spiritually at a loss. <\/p>\n

Second, the Psalms.<\/em> The Psalter is the first prayer book, and it\u2019s words refer every human emotion, doubt, and question to their maker. When we read them Christologically, we are reminded that Christ experienced these emotions and exigencies just like us \u2014 and that he prays with us in and through the Psalms.<\/p>\n

Third, a prayer rope or beads.<\/em> I use a small fifty-knot prayer rope. It gives me a physical reminder to pray. Whenever I reach into my pocket, it\u2019s a tactile trigger to pray. I sometimes wear it around my wrist for the same reason.\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Things today seem more fragmented than ever. Try focusing on your job, for instance, amid the alerts for incoming email, social media updates, and meeting invites. Add to that phone calls, interrupting coworkers, and elastic tasks stretching past allotted times and squeezing into others. Nice knowing you, margin. And that\u2019s just what outsiders impose. Inside […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1270,"featured_media":5637,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[54,879,548],"class_list":["post-5633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-prayer-2","tag-anthony-the-great","tag-peace","tag-praying-the-hours"],"yoast_head":"\nHow to cultivate spiritual peace at work<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Things today seem more fragmented than ever. Try focusing on your job, for instance, amid the alerts for incoming email, social media updates, and meeting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to cultivate spiritual peace at work\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Things today seem more fragmented than ever. Try focusing on your job, for instance, amid the alerts for incoming email, social media updates, and meeting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Joel J. Miller\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-03-18T12:02:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-06-13T23:23:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/276\/2013\/03\/Anthony-the-Great.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"240\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"240\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joel J. Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joel J. Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/\",\"name\":\"How to cultivate spiritual peace at work\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-03-18T12:02:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-06-13T23:23:40+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/#\/schema\/person\/b481a8abcb28f825f4a759aa0ea9e11c\"},\"description\":\"Things today seem more fragmented than ever. Try focusing on your job, for instance, amid the alerts for incoming email, social media updates, and meeting\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to cultivate spiritual peace at work\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/\",\"name\":\"Joel J. Miller\",\"description\":\"Where Christian Theology Meets Daily Life\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/#\/schema\/person\/b481a8abcb28f825f4a759aa0ea9e11c\",\"name\":\"Joel J. Miller\",\"description\":\"I'm the author of Lifted by Angels, a look at angels through the eyes of the early church. Click here for more about me or subscribe to my RSS here.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/author\/jmiller\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to cultivate spiritual peace at work","description":"Things today seem more fragmented than ever. Try focusing on your job, for instance, amid the alerts for incoming email, social media updates, and meeting","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to cultivate spiritual peace at work","og_description":"Things today seem more fragmented than ever. Try focusing on your job, for instance, amid the alerts for incoming email, social media updates, and meeting","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/","og_site_name":"Joel J. Miller","article_published_time":"2013-03-18T12:02:18+00:00","article_modified_time":"2013-06-13T23:23:40+00:00","og_image":[{"width":"240","height":"240","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/276\/2013\/03\/Anthony-the-Great.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Joel J. Miller","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joel J. Miller","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/","name":"How to cultivate spiritual peace at work","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-03-18T12:02:18+00:00","dateModified":"2013-06-13T23:23:40+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/#\/schema\/person\/b481a8abcb28f825f4a759aa0ea9e11c"},"description":"Things today seem more fragmented than ever. Try focusing on your job, for instance, amid the alerts for incoming email, social media updates, and meeting","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/2013\/03\/cultivating-inner-peace-amid-our-daily-work\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to cultivate spiritual peace at work"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/","name":"Joel J. Miller","description":"Where Christian Theology Meets Daily Life","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/#\/schema\/person\/b481a8abcb28f825f4a759aa0ea9e11c","name":"Joel J. Miller","description":"I'm the author of Lifted by Angels, a look at angels through the eyes of the early church. Click here for more about me or subscribe to my RSS here.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/author\/jmiller\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1270"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5637"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/joeljmiller\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}