A sense of collective mission

The minister in church on Sunday told his version of that old story about the three construction workers. A guy walks up to the first and asks him what he is doing. “I’m earning a living so I can pay for my household expenses” is his answer. The guy walks up to the second and and asks him what he is doing. “I’m building a wall” is his answer. The guy walks up to the third construction worker and asks him what he is doing. “I’m building a cathedral.”

I was talking with some folks last week in the post-secondary education system and was told it is getting harder and harder to recruit young Canadians into socially important careers such as social work, police/corrections, paramedics, nursing, etc. In one opinion, young people are not interested in front line public services and that they are being steered into desk jobs in the public and private sectors where the pay is higher and the work is less stressful.

Maybe.

But what about meaningful work? When did that fall out of style?

How come we are told there is a crisis of ‘meaning’ among our youth and yet they don’t want to go into meaningful work?

What is meaningful work?

Pick a definition but it is is basically jobs that are 100% required for a society to operate well. Without paramedics, nurses, social workers, construction workers, truck drivers, - you go down the line - society grinds to a halt.

A few less talking heads like myself, non-front line bureaucrats, salespeople at the mall, etc. might not be a bad thing.

JK. All jobs have relevancy from real estate agent to used car salesman but some are more socially meaningful and critical to the success of everyone else.

I am hearing a lot of advertisements for Service New Brunswick jobs these days as I listen to my podcast rotation. The interesting thing is that the ads are not talking about specific jobs - they are talking about having a meaningful career helping neighbors in your community. Here is the clip:

“A lot of people have jobs they enjoy. And a lot of people are proud of the work they do every day. But how many people also have the satisfaction of knowing they made a difference in the lives of an entire province? That’s what makes a position with Service New Brunswick so rewarding. When you join our team, you get a job that really makes an impact.”

Older folks might respond cynically to this pitch but I like it. I think public service jobs (mostly) are meaningful and can make an impact.

We need to get back to the idea that we are building neighbourhoods, communities, cities and a province that we all want to live in. We all play a small role but collectively it would be great if we all saw the edifice we are building together through our jobs, our investments, our politics, our volunteer efforts, etc.

We live in a deeply individualistic society these days. Our personal rights and freedoms are all that matters. We need to get back at least somewhat to the idea that we live in community with other people.

A sense of mission - that my role matters - that I have something to contribute to my community - matters.

Are you just earning a living or helping construct a cathedral?