Can Work Be Worship?

For most of my life, I have heard people complain about their jobs. During the Vietnam War, while serving aboard a supply ship, I constantly saw shipmates doing as little as possible while on duty. 

When asked about it, they would usually insolently say, “What do you expect from a government job?” Or “I’m a short timer, what do you want?” Obviously, they didn’t value their contribution to the work of keeping a US Navy ship at its most efficient.

RELATED: How Work and Activity Brings Us Closer to God

Later in life, when I worked as a sales representative travelling to clients’ offices all day, I often heard other iterations of disdain for the work people do, such as, “It’s Monday, what a drag,” while mentally counting the days and hours when they would be free from their jobs. 

Then, at the end of the week many might say, “Thank God it’s Friday.” At the beginning of the week, these same workers would be in a bad mood, and at the end of the week, they would be very happy contemplating the weekend. It seemed like the whole society needed an attitude adjustment. 

But I soon found, in my new Faith, that the answer was at hand!

Shortly after leaving active duty with the Navy, I became a Baha’i — a follower of Baha’u’llah. In Baha’u’llah’s teachings, he wrote: 

O people of Baha! It is incumbent upon each one of you to engage in some occupation — such as a craft, a trade or the like. We have exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship of the one true God.

Like a lightning bolt, the Baha’i idea that work is worship utterly transformed my attitude toward work. Before, I sometimes thought of work as a necessary evil that I had to do in order to survive. Since reading and understanding Baha’u’llah’s teaching about work being worship, I always endeavored to do the best I could with any job I had. In fact, my new understanding of work being worship helped me to keep my work at a high level of performance.

Work became a joy rather than a drudgery. My career, and my life in general, prospered as a result.

Since retiring, I decided to do an experiment with the random people I encountered who were still working at their jobs. The first scenario I usually encounter, at the grocery store, usually goes like this: 

• I put my groceries on the counter’s conveyor belt.  
• I look at the clerk’s facial expression, which is usually tired and/or stressed.
• After the clerk checks all of my purchases and rings them up, I pay and say, “Thank you for the great service. Did you know that the Baha’i Faith teaches that work is worship if done in a spirit of service?” 

Surprisingly, most people say, “I believe that!” or “I needed to hear that — thank you!”

RELATED: Creating a Spiritual Workplace

On one occasion, as I was checking out from a busy pharmacy, the check-out counter had a line of at least 10 people. I noticed that an employee at the photo counter in an adjacent corner of the store was just standing there watching the stressed clerk trying to check people out as fast as she could. 

I did not want to wait in line, so I asked the photo counter clerk to check out my small number of items. As he did so, I mentioned, “Do you know that when we do work in the spirit of service, it is worship!” His attitude immediately brightened. He walked briskly over to the end of the other line and said, I can check you out over there. Half of the line went to his register, and he joyfully checked them out! 

“Wow!” I thought, “That is the power of God’s word to transform hearts.”

Try this experiment with almost any type of worker that serves you. Try it out for yourself. I think you will be surprised!