Your Work is Spiritual and Supports your Life.

Work is your second vocation, after prayer. You work to support your life and your family. Your work is spiritual. Do it, together with all things, as if it was for the Lord. Do it prayerfully. Give your work attention and care. Work with integrity and grace.

The opening pages of the Bible reveal that our God works. It begins with the work of God making creation and all things. Likewise, Jesus is understood to have been a carpenter before starting His ministry. As we follow the way of Jesus, we will find ourselves working. Our vocation is spiritual work. It is work that we can do together with God. Watch as our work makes a difference before our eyes. We work and co-create with our God.

Find meaning and value in the work you give yourself to. Our vocation will be one of the places we spend most of our lives. Prepare for this work and learn the skills you need. Be honorable and honest in the work you do. Remember that everyone you meet is made in the image of God. Each person is worthy of grace and compassion. May the peace of Christ be yours amidst the stress and pressure that work can bring.

Whenever you are paid, give praise to God for your provision. Use the money you earn with wisdom. Use your money to care for yourself and your family. Rejoice whenever you share in God’s joy through your acts of generosity. For all your vocation gives you, be careful not to let it become you. You are not your vocation. You are a child of God, and Jesus has prepared a place for you. Live your life to build up treasures in heaven.

Your vocation is spiritual work. It is not to be neglected or demeaned. Approach it with a grateful heart. Yet, every vocation is less than the work of prayer and fasting. Let us not allow our vocation to hinder these greater works.

May Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

There is only one restriction on the vocation of an Urban Monastic. We are prohibited from work that expects us to use force, violence, or to kill a person. We cannot be monastics and act violently or take the life of another person. We cannot be monastics and direct or instruct those who are expected to use violence or kill another person.

• How have you experienced God’s presence with you in your work?
• As God invites us into His presence, how do you invite God to be present with you as you work?
• Meditate on how you believe God views work in general, and your work specifically.
• Reflect back on your life and focus on the ways God has walked and journeyed with you into your current vocation.
• How do you balance the demands of prayer/fasting and your vocation?
• How do you celebrate the co-creating work you do with God in your vocation?
• How do you understand yourself as doing your work as if for the Lord (Colossians 3:23)?
• What does it look like at work to treat each person with grace and compassion?