Joan B. MacDonald from her book ‘The Holiness of Everyday Life’ wrote:
Jobs, which demand so much of our time and often draw forth our deep emotional commitment, challenge us to define our values and establish our priorities. Those who work forty hours a week or more will never equally balance work, family and church in terms of time. However, a balance must be struck in terms of value and priorities. We must not compromise our values in order to succeed at work. We must not sacrifice our family relationships in order to succeed at work. And, finally we must remain conscious of our values and priorities while we are at work. Work takes up the bulk of our time, attention, study, planning, and goal setting. Family, church and spiritual matters can become inconvenient distractions, whining around our ears like mosquitoes in the night. When they become sufficiently annoying, we impatiently slap at them before returning our attention to our work. Work and career can become so important to us that even personal values are pushed aside as we rush after a goal of success.
Hugh Nibley describes the dangers of compromising values for the sake of the job in this discussion of careers: ‘Careerism’ is the determination to reign in hell rather than serve in heaven. “From the moment a person starts treating his life as a career, worry is his constant companion. . . . Careerism results not only in constant anxiety, but also in an underdeveloped heart. . . . The careerist constantly betrays himself, since he must ignore idealistic, compassionate, and courageous impulses that might jeopardize his career.” “Perfect love casts out all fear,” said the Lord, but who wants that if it jeopardizes one’s career? Satan’s promise to split Adam and Eve was accomplished when God declared, “My people have sold themselves for gold and silver.”4
. . . . When work and career become our top priority; when our jobs, which already consume so much of our time, also become the focus of all of our attention, we are in trouble. Moreover, this is an easy trap to fall into. How do we avoid it. How do we strike a balance? The solution is simple to state though difficult to achieve. The solution is to bring a spiritual focus into our everyday lives. I believe we must bring the Savior to work with us.
The Prophet Micah tells us how to go about serving God. He declares that we do not serve God in our temple with our offerings, rituals, or prayers: “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the high God: Shall I come before Him with burnt offerings, with calves of a year old? [Or with perfect sacrament meeting attendance or hundreds of endowments performed?] Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He hath showed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God (Micah 6:6-8.)
Where are we to do justly—only at church on Sunday? When are we to love mercy—only when we are home teaching? How can we ever learn to walk humbly with God if we don’t do it every day? Forty hours a week, at work, we must do justly. Forty hours a week, at work we must seek mercy. Forty hours a week we must humbly invite God to walk with us.
Work, whether at home or in a job, provides us with a great opportunity to choose God. If we lived in a monastery and spent our days in scripture study and prayer, it would all be so easy. That is not what God has asked us to do. He has placed us in the world. Work provides the perfect setting to meet that challenge. The very tension work creates, the very attraction to be career focused, is the very opportunity to choose God and to actively demonstrate our commitment to serve him above all else. ~Joan B. MacDonald, The Holiness of Everyday Life (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1995), 12-14
