Yesterday my son sent me a link to a news story saying that vicars have the job with the greatest satisfaction rating in the UK. Publicans have the lowest.
I wasn't sure what to make of it. At first I felt smug, then I decided that wasn't a proper reaction. I thought about the similarities between the two jobs - we both live over the shop, we know large slices of the community, and many people choose to tell us their woes.
I thought about my own situation, how I'm doing the thing I feel that God has called me to, that I was made for, that fits me like a well made shoe fits a foot.
I thought about doing something that involves never being alone, about how spending time praying to the Creator of the Universe counts as work, about how I don't get judged on results, like some people do (football managers, teachers, engineers), and about how I don't have to worry about redundancy.
Then I thought about how I often feel guilty for not praying enough, anxious that my congregation is not growing, or not growing very fast, about what the future holds for the church in this country, and realised that I put myself under the same pressure.
Then a crazy idea came to mind. Perhaps I should swop jobs for a day. I wonder if Dave or Gill would fancy being a vicar for a day. How about it guys?
I'm really not sure (having glanced at the research) that it holds up. But those who are doing a job they feel has meaning & therefore feel as if they themselves have meaning, must surely have a greater level of satisfaction than those who do not. Clergy tend to have a greater awareness of *meaning* in life than others.
ReplyDeleteMy OH spent 6 years as a consultant (taking a hiatus from full time ministry as a result of severe disillusionment) and returned 18 months ago to full time parish ministry. I'm not sure if he's happier than he was, but he's a generally happy soul. His secular job was a tough one, and he found he enjoyed it most when he was interacting with people, even the awkward ones at the EU commission in Brussels. Perhaps it's a matter of horses for courses as the article suggests?
Did this post twice?
Horses for courses - yes I'm sure. And all such news articles are trying to put meaning into research that it can't necessarily carry.
ReplyDeleteBut *meaning* is very important - the two publicans I know best are both people who understand this quite well, I think, and would probably say that their jobs and lives are worthwhile.
I sort of feel, as a stumbling follower after Jesus, that I ought to be with those whose jobs are hard and soul destroying, rather than sitting pretty in a happy life. After all, isn't that what Philippians 2 tells us that Jesus did?