Prairie View

Friday, June 05, 2009

Sabbaticals for Mechanics

This is an answer to a question in a comment for a previous post.

In my opinion, people in every kind of work would benefit from a year of regrouping and reevaluation every seven years. I'm not sure that it would always mean abandoning the job entirely for a whole year, but some effort to honor the sabbatical principle seems right to me.

I note that for Israel in Bible times, the weekly Sabbath was a rest from labor, the every-seven-years Sabbath was a rest for the land and for the people who worked the land--which I presume included everyone. The Year of Jubilee was a year for wiping the financial slate clean. Land was restored to the original owners, debts were canceled, etc. This effectively protected everyone from the hazards of generational poverty or wealth.

Imagine with me, what if--

1. Every employer told every new employee that he will begin planning immediately for a Sabbatical for the employee at the end of six years of employment. (The employee immediately begins to think in terms of at least a six-year commitment to the job, with commensurate rewards.)

2. Every missionary would be urged to take a Sabbatical after six years. (Fewer going-home-to-stay before then, and no pressure for the missionary to decide when he deserves a rest.)

3. Every businessman, farmer, mechanic, whatever. . . would plan his life's work in seven-year segments. (I think this would help with goal setting, which is an important part of maintaining perspective on both the immediate and the long term. And the reshuffling of roles would have benefits.)

I suspect that regular Sabbaticals would help everyone remember that work is not all there is to life. Neither is leisure all there is, of course. I think sometimes the benefits of a Sabbatical can happen without much leisure involved, if there is significant change in the usual "order of business" during the Sabbatical. One cabinet maker could perhaps arrange to trade locations and jobs with another in a different community, for example. Alternatively, perhaps the cabinet shop could simply be turned over mostly to the employees for a time, with the usual "boss" occupied in another line of work, making himself available when consultation is needed.

While not effecting a financial clean slate exactly, such reshuffling of roles reminds everyone too that no one is indispensable, and, on the contrary, in their absence, others may come to appreciate the role the person on Sabbatical has been filling during the previous time--perhaps while being under-appreciated.

I think mission projects would get a boost from the pool of available workers, if people were less tied to their jobs.

My theory is that most people are smart enough to figure out something that would work. In the absence of a will to do so, there's no end to the "insurmountables" involved. We all know of cases where burnout has been so marked that people have been lost entirely to a certain work, or had a forced absence because of debilitating symptoms. THEN people always figure something out, but there is much more loss than might have been the case if relief had been intentionally sought earlier.

Why are modern-day Sabbaticals traditionally associated with people in academia or people with pastoral responsibilities? I think it's because these jobs require a high level of creative effort (These people must always have something to share.), and often are intensely relational in nature (They work with lots of people). Both activities consume inordinate amounts of energy, and over time, the stores must simply be replenished, or there is nothing left to give. Being a student again instead of a teacher, or sitting under preaching instead of doing the preaching can help provide some of the needed replenishment. More training is sometimes sought during this time. If that involves additional expense, being paid by the parent institution can make this possible where it might not be an option otherwise.

There you have it. My long answer to your short question. Thanks for making it a practical and valid one.

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