Living your profession with passion, honesty and a sense of vocation can give you the sensation that you are riding a roller coaster, with a chain of appointments, committee meetings, travel, presentations, and a squeeze on family time. Much good still ensues out of this – being of service to others, being creative and innovative; creating new work, giving people dignity, and making them feel they are involved and empowered.
Society moves on because of honest work that respects human dignity. The sensation is still, however, one of living in a whirlwind with no time to stop to think and reflect. This is where St James comes in.
The letters of James can never be understated. They go directly to the centre of the challenges society faces throughout time, including ours. They provoke us to stop, and step aside in silence for a while. The moment of stillness challenges us to rethink our lifestyle even in a way that goes opposite to our culture.
What can James offer us in a period when people are returning to a different normality post the pandemic-driven lockdown? The first thought that comes to mind is “how can my life change in this different normality?” James gives professionals practical steps to go through their thought process – the first being: the greater the power you have, the greater the responsibility (James 3:5-8). This responsibility starts with the way we speak, decisions we take, preconceptions about others, how we treat others. An honest life is based on relationships that help us serve others, not dominate them.
James gives professionals practical steps to go through their thought process
James acknowledges that there are no easy solutions to the day-to-day challenges, but we need strength and patience to endure. Patience is not passive waiting but an active endurance (James 1:12-16). This entails a lot of listening to understand others, and on our part we have to slow down to speak and to avoid anger. (James 1:19-21). It is our responsibility to use words correctly, and in a way that they heal rather than destroy.
Life is made up of choices; it’s like you’re in a car choosing which route to take – some routes build, others destroy. Choosing a resource over another has an impact you may not see or get to know of, but the spin-off is affecting others, their families and society at large.
It is a call to go back to basics. A time to step off the roller coaster can help open our eyes to see the “orphans and the widows” next to us but we had never seen. We need to be challenged to look at the present economic and governance structures and systems that are allowing many people to be enclosed in their physical, social and spiritual poverty. (James 1: 26-27).
How much do I live my faith with courage to act in the face of this poverty that surrounds me? The pope describes St James’s teaching as a commentary on faith (James 2:14-24,26): “Faith that does not bear fruit in works is not faith.” This is a time for humility and reflection. Through reflection comes revelation.