Do your work
Gettin' metaphysical on Labor Day
Listen to this article on the Motley Mystic Podcast
Burnout. It's a word we hear a lot these days. So much so that it's almost meaningless at this point. Everyone seems burned out, stressed, or at the end of their rope, whether it's in their professional or personal life.
October 2021 is when I burned out. I had been doing Jubilee! Circle – the spiritual community I had founded 11 years prior – basically nonstop and coming out of Covid we were having the rebuild our community, and we were running short on both cash and congregants.
I decided I needed a retreat, so I booked this little Airbnb in Officially the Middle of Nowhere, South Carolina. It wasn't a quaint cabin. It was a basically a two-car garage with a tractor parked in one space, right in front of the coffee maker and the fridge. The "bedroom" was just like a monastery cell, thought not quite as charming. The bathroom was spacious and, as one might suspect in a garage, full of bugs.
I figured it was just the place for a saintly retreat, but it was also a working farm, so the woman who ran the place was in and out all day. Not very conducive for silence and meditation. It rained most of the weekend, which prevented much outdoor time, so I wandered the grounds when I could and talked to the horses and dogs but didn't get much quiet time.
Needless to say, it did nothing to cure my burnout. I was just as haggard and overwhelmed when I returned. It wasn't long afterwards though, that I found a cure for my burnout. I came across it after going to Spirit and asking for the cure. The Spirit's answer is always the same, and it was this time, too: "Do your work."
In the past, this answer never satisfied me, mainly because I was doing work for the wrong reasons. I realized this when I read Lesson 25 from the workbook of A Course in Miracles.
"Everything is for your own best interests. That is what it is for; that is its purpose; that is what it means. It is in recognizing this that your goals become unified. It is in recognizing this that what you see is given meaning. You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals. These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests, because the ego is not you."
This time, when Spirit told me, "Do your work," I finally realized the "work" isn't the thing the ego wants you to do. The ego gives our work "purpose," which is usually wrapped up in the pursuit of money, a promotion, fame, attracting friends and lovers, or some other recognition from the world. Spirit has a different purpose for our work. It is not to win any worldly accolades. Instead, as Michael Singer says, it is to use all work as a path to spiritual growth.
"Just keep moving forward with what's being given to you, and you will see that each thing will unfold in its own time on its own basis. And then you commit yourself to that, then to that and then to that," Singer says in his talk on Karma Yoga. "All you're going to do is do what's put before you. You're free to put your whole heart into it, to do the best at whatever you're doing, without thought of reward or failure or anything. Now you're growing."
Yes, when I realized that the ego's goals are not mine, and I have misused this idea of "purpose," that's when I could finally understand A Course's insistence that: "It is crucial to your learning to be willing to give up the goals you have established for everything. The recognition that they are meaningless, rather than 'good' or 'bad,' is the only way to accomplish this."
I had to give up the goals I had for Jubilee! Circle, because, for the most part, they were ego-based. I wanted a big congregation. I wanted to be seen as a respected teacher and scholar. I wanted accolades and adoration. I wanted to be someone's "beloved pastor."
That's not what Spirit means by "do your work." The work we do in service to the ego is "meaningless" because it chases transitory and imaginary things like success, fame, and fortune. The work we do in service to the Spirit, however, will always be fruitful, because we will put our whole heart and soul into it without asking it to give us back anything in this material world. This is how we grow spiritually. We use everything that comes to us to go back to God. We use the challenges, the joys, the sorrows, the victories and frustrations of our work to go within and root out anything – thoughts, beliefs, ideas, dogmas, traditions, slights, or self-doubts – that prevent us from being fully present to the Spirit and those around us.
This is the work that matters.
Do not, however, think that "do your work" means that your work in the world won't change over the years. In fact, I took "do your work" as a sign that it was time to move on from Jubilee! Circle. My work there was no longer fun or edifying, so I knew I was doing it for the wrong reasons, so I retired last September. Since then, I have been given new work to do in the form of music. I have always loved music. I have played guitar and written music since I was a teenager, but now, I have the time to do it again.
When I was younger, I had an egoic purpose for music. I wanted to be a rich and famous rock star. That was not in the cards, so I dropped it. Now, however, I write, play, and sing my music for one reason: because it's fun! I'm not asking it to do anything for me other than allow me to have fun. I have put my heart and soul into it, and it is showing me places within that still need to be recognized, settled, and released. This is spiritual growth.
"Do your work" doesn't mean doing the same thing over and over again. Singer assures us that Spirit has plenty of work for us to do over our lifetime. Indeed, he says "each thing will unfold in its own time on its own basis. And then you commit yourself to that, then to that and then to that."
The great thing about realizing you can move on from things that are no longer serving your growth is this, according to Singer, who says: "Pretty soon, not only do you have no time, but you realize that everything before you, behind you, above you, below you are given to you from God. There's no more 'you' around here. It's all just the reflection of what life did -- and you're free."
What you're free from is the rat race of finding some "purpose" in life. Singer talks all the time about what our true purpose here is and it's this: To take everything that comes along in life as an opportunity for spiritual growth. If your work is no longer growing you spiritually, look around, because something else is emerging from within you for you to do.
I invite you – no, I'm begging you – do your work. Whatever it is before you, take care of business without one single thought about its worth, its outcome, its ability to "fulfill" you or give you a sense of "purpose." Your purpose is to do the work, because that is what Spirit has assigned you for your ultimate spiritual growth and awakening.
That is the only work worth doing.
Music for the Journey:
“Hammer and a Nail” - Indigo Girls
Upcoming Speaking Gigs:
October 6, 2024: Clayton Memorial Unitarian Universalist Church - Newberry, SC (in-person only)
Past Guest Speaking Gigs:
This is the sermon I delivered at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Charleston on June 23, 2024, entitled, “Pink Paradise: How Barbie Can Renew Our Hope for the Future.” (Beth and I perform my song “Native Word” following the sermon.)
Looking for a guest speaker at your spiritual community? Contact me!
About the Motley Mystic:
The Motley Mystic is an online community for people who have realized that the truth speaks with many voices. There is no one religion, philosophy, institution, or dogma that captures the whole Truth and nothing but the Truth. No one needs to swear allegiance to one line of thought or belief to discern Truth, because Love is the only thing that’s real. That’s what we explore at the Motley Mystic - all the tools and strategies we need to remove our barriers to Love and live fully as our true Divine Self.
Candace Chellew is the founder of Motley Mystic as well as Jubilee! Circle, an interfaith spiritual community in Columbia, S.C. She is also the author of Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians published in 2008 by Jossey-Bass and the founder and senior editor emeritus of Whosoever: An Online Magazine for LGBTQ People of Faith. She is also a musician and avid animal lover.
