The Myth of Sisyphus
I remember as a sophomore in college,
in a philosophy class, we were asked to write whether we thought the Myth of
Sisyphus was an accurate description of life.
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus is a king
who was punished by being forced to push a huge boulder up a hill, only to
watch it roll back down once he reached the top. He was condemned to repeat this pointless action
day after day after day. It is meant to
demonstrate the absurdity of life.
Well, even as poorly formed as I was
then, I recognized that the Myth of Sisyphus in no way relates to a Christian
understanding of life. For one thing, it
does not take into account the reality of love. Read the quote by Blessed John
Paul II under the title of this blog.
The reality of love, and our participation in it, means life can never
be absurd.
And, of course, there is the source of
all love: God. Every moment is an
opportunity to grow in our relationship with Him, to become more like Him, and
therefore to grow in love. There is also
the reality of Heaven. Life is not
simply one meaningless day after another.
It is a journey to an incredible Destination. We are not standing still in repetitive
existence; we are going somewhere.
Most Christians would not see in the
Myth of Sisyphus any true analogy for life, though in our weakness we may feel
occasionally like it is. I do suspect,
though, that some of us may see in the realm of our work, the daily toil at our
jobs, something of the experience of Sisyphus.
This is an easy trap to fall into, and
an unfortunate one. It takes effort and
intention to break free of it. Father
Bill Casey tells a story that relates.
A man walks down a street in the
middle ages and sees three stone cutters working on giant boulders. He stops and asks the first, “What are you
doing?”
“What does it look like I’m
doing? I’m chipping away at this stone!”
He goes on to the second and asks,
“What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m
doing? I’m working. I’m providing for the needs of my family.”
He moves on a little more and asks the
third, “What are you doing?”
“What does it look like I’m
doing? I’m building a great
cathedral. It will be the center of this
town for hundreds of years. The Holy
Sacrifice of the Mass will be offered here.
People will come here to be baptized, to marry, and to be commended to
God when they die.”
All three stone cutters were doing the
same thing, but they had very different perspectives that greatly affected how
much they felt like Sisyphus. The first
could not see beyond what was right in front of him. The second saw a higher purpose, and found
more meaning in what he was doing. The
third, however, saw the whole picture, and he found true joy in his work.
St. Josemaria Escriva, the founder of Opus Dei, taught, among other things,
that men should turn their work into prayer, into the “work of God.” We may not be building cathedrals, and our
jobs may at times be menial and devoid of appreciation, but they are
opportunities to serve God.
When we do our best, and give an
honest day’s labor, we can offer that to God.
We can do it for Him, and allow our work to transform us into great
saints, no matter what it is. Mother Teresa
reminded us that it is not what we do that makes us saints, but with how much
love we do it.
One final story on this thought. True or not, I’m not sure, but I don’t think
it matters. It seems that during the
Second Vatican Council, Archbishop Fulton Sheen was in Rome to attend. He was not a cardinal, of course, but many
observers and theologians were present.
Outside his hotel was a street sweeper that he saw every day, and who
seemed to do his work with immense joy.
Bishop Sheen asked him one day, “Tell
me, what makes you so happy as you work?”
The street sweeper responded, “You are
a bishop, are you not? And you are here
for the council? Very important. But if I do my work with more love than you
do yours, I will be the more pleasing to God.”
“Very good, my son.”
May our work be a prayer, make us
pleasing to God, and help us to become saints.
