One of the most important lessons learned by those who enter the religious life of a convent or monastery, has to do with work. Most people are aware of the usual division of the day into periods of work, prayer and rest required in such institutions. But what many are not aware of is the attitude taught towards work. For these groups, work is another form of prayer.

In fact, everyone can consider everything they do as prayer if they sanctify their activities with a request that they be used in the furtherance of God's work. Which is to say in accordance with Divine Law. At first, we may make that request and promptly forget that the request was made. But, gradually we learn to keep the request in mind as the day goes on. Eventually, the idea becomes second nature to us, and thereby, work is transformed into a form of prayer.

This transformed prayer is referred to as The Work, (please note the capital W). Our Work is living the life. Our Work is our attempt to elevate the mundane, to transform the lower into the higher.

Our work can be working in an office, mending steel bridges, painting landscapes, caring for children or any other means to an end. It matters not what. The important thing is that it is done well; that it is done as an example for others as well as ourselves.

Then, we know that it fits into God's plan, a plan that is related to bringing beauty and honesty into the world, and though we may not understand the finer details, we can at least help to contribute these things during our lives Though we know that we are imperfect in many ways, we can do The Work, by expressing love, beauty and honesty in every thing we do.

It is probably true that work will not bring us salvation, yet it is true that our path to Salvation or Immortality is through the Work; and we can use our work or occupation to help us progress. Those people who busy themselves doing work that is not their best, that they feel is demeaning to them, or that is only done for gain, are also praying through their work. But, without positive direction, their prayers are creating, or at least maintaining, the negative aspects with which they are dealing.

There are things which further our humanity and things which hinder its development. Work dedicated to the welfare of humankind and maintained by our attention, helps all of us and becomes a prayer lifted up to God. Our motives and our attention ar the critical factors in work into prayer.

The ancient Alchemists, those early investigators of the natural world, had these same ideals. It was not their hope that they could change lead into gold in order to become rich and famous. It was their intention to elevate the mundane into something valuable.

They believed that lead should be gold and that all the lesser things of our world should be elevated, or raised up to a higher state. They believed that in doing the work that was required to accomplish that goal, they too, would be elevated to their own higher potential, something worth far more than gold to them and worth far more than gold to us as well.

In the process of doing that work, they discovered new and interesting facts about the nature of matter; such as, how things could be combined; and what the requirements are for the uniting of the elements of the earth. Our word chemistry comes from the word alchemy and that word originally meant "the Marriage." This was a wedding of one element with another.

The best of them wrote in great detail every step along the way towards this elevation process. They spoke of it as transmutation. And, in some cases, the code in which they wrote has been broken. These details and the motives of what is before us.

If anyone wishes to learn to pray contemplatively, the ability to give one's attention to details is the place to begin. Yet, before we proceed, it cannot be stressed strongly enough that the real beginnings of Contemplative Prayer are contained within our everyday work: transmuting everyday work into The Work!
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