WORK AS A VOCATION Resignation Not Enough

SlIse—May 1 offer my thanks for your excellent article, " Work is a Divine Vocation," which expresses so well the Christian principles upon which our philosophy of labour must be based if we are to build a new world order? I could have wished however, that in view of the impending conscription of labour of both men and women, you had stated whether this Christian belief is compatible with such industrial conscription: for if it is not then a discussion of " work as a Divine vocation " would seem to be somewhat hollow at the present time.
1 ant especially grateful for the emphasis laid on the nature of work which is capable of being looked upon as a Divine vocation, The mechanised job, the occupation in which one is merely the minder of a machine or a cog in a vast enterprise, is obviously not of its nature work " such as can be loved." Such occupation denies the right of si man to be responsible for his work and its results, and it is this denial of responsibility which has made work to-day a burden instead of a joy, which has resulted in the outcry for a " leisure state," and which has led in the desire for more and more money in order to purchase mechanised amusements to compensate for the lack of stimulus and enjoyment in one's daily
work It is this intellectual irresponsibility which makes so many " jobs " to-day subhuman occupations, and therefore unfit to be offered up to God for His glorf, and therefore impossible of being viewed as vocational work.
The reason for my stressing of this true nature of human work is that correspondents have written to me in answer to my letter published in your columns saying that every kind of work can be " vocational " work if accepted in the right spirit and offered up to God for His honour and glory, This, I think you will agree, is a fallacy. Does not the following passage sum up the truly Christian attitude to work, as expressed in your article?: " There is an ugly sound about the word prostitution, but what other describes the transaction in which a man hires ,himself out to do shoddy, machine-minding work for wages when he could, if he would, become a creator, a maker of things bearing thc impress of himself? Shall a Man offer his work, his service to his fellows with the faith in which a Woman gives herself to her betrother, or shall he ' hire him,cif out,' being indifferent to what eses his energies arc put by others, provided that the fee be forthcoming?" (The Devil's Devices, Pepler and Gill).
It is, as your correspondent Mr. Haynes Points out, the present educational system which is fundamentally at fault in fostering a misguided conception of human work. But though I entirely agree with him that Catholic schools ie future should he truly Christian in spirit and should instil a Christian outlook on life (which would include a Christian outlook on work), that does not solve the problem for men and women working in the world to-day. What, then, is the remedy for those of us who are compelled to earn our living and are only offered work which we do not consider fitting to the dignity of man? Is the only answer the negative one of accepting the situation? And is, then, my original fear justified and the principle of " work as vocation " impossible of being put into practice at the present time?
MARY DFLAHUN1Y.
276, Hughendee Road, High Wycombe, Bucks.
Christian Dilemma
Sig,—Miss Delahunty's letter (January 24) has all the importance she claims for it: it is, in effect, a call to Catholics to investigate a means of social revolution that is not spoken of often or loudly, but is probably the only effective means.
Great minds, powerful forces, are working in another direction — attempting to force
Christianity into an official position. ln some measure these have already achieved success ; and to bring God into ministerial speeches and M.O.I. blurb may not be a far step, nor even such a Christian charter as envisaged by Mr. Benvenisti. This may be the conversion of officialdom; Or it may be the harnessing of a dangerous force by an immoral government.
Mr. Benvenisti is confident that no ruler will be able to twist all meaning out of a declaration of Christian principles of
society. Oh, foolish innocence I Who among us has not heard the devil quoting scripture, even on occasions front the pul
pit? Mr. Benvenisti cites the example of
the American Declaration of Rights be neath the shade of which rose Wall Street, centre of conspirators against liberty.
There is an imminent danger that we shall fall into a new complacency — perhaps we should never have roused from the old if we had not seen this fresh haven close to us—lulled by pious words from high quarters. I do not want to be over-cynical, but
it has happened so often before. The workers of Europe fought for a century, and lost, because the bourgeoisie which could not overcome them, assumed the leadership of the revolt, and the blood of a thousand young martyrs Was shed to build a rickety empire cd finance.
The alternative for us is to contract out of society. Refusing to face the risks involved in activities. aimed at making the devil shed his horns, we can build a Christian State within the State, which will grow up through the old decaying shell. Miss Delahunty says she could find no work worth doing. In the present state it is impossible to find. Those who are determined not to prostitute their lives arc called On to make a great sacrifice—to cut the bonds which bind them to the old world, and evolve in community their proper way of living.
CHARLES DAVE?.
Queens' College, Cambridge.
Contemplation at Work
SIR,—Ill supporting the movement to establish a Feast of Christ the Worker, there is one point I should like to make.
This is suggested by your Week by Week article in the current issue It appears difficult indeed for the operator in large-scale industry to have his work and imbue it with a sense of Divine vocation, but it may not be generally recognised that this type of manual labour provides an excellent opportunity for contemplative prayer in a way that many professions—in themselves more noble—do not. The senses are occupied but the mind is not engrossed. The operative acts succeed each other with a monotonous regularity that can deaden the spirit. But to the Catholic they can—and must, such is the need for prayer—be as a succession of beads passing through the fingers and leaving the soul free to contems plate God.
Thus the very monotony and soullessness of some types of industrial work are a potential weapon of great nower in the hands of the Catholic worker.
MARY M. FEERY.
63, Russell Terrace, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire.