Tentmaking and the modern interpretation of career and work

The primary tension in my adult life has been the struggle between my passion for philosophy and religion and the practicalities of making one's way in the world. Setting aside some huge pieces of the puzzle for a moment, I've been struck by a series of "What if...?" questions that may become important to where I go from here.

What if career and work did not define us? What if the place of work within the Rule of St. Benedict were allowed to soften the monument that it has become in the dominant culture? What if people did any number of things as their work without worrying about whether it constituted a career that they would wish on themselves? What if that work paid well enough and created an economy full of enough goods and services that we could actually have enough to qualify as our "daily bread"? What if this economy left us with enough time, energy, and spirit to pursue our other interests without worrying about which was hobby and which was legitimate work? What if this freedom to explore actually increased the number of activities that could become our work and contribute to this economy of sufficiency and deep fulfillment?

I think this might be the kind of economy that Shane Claiborne has in mind when calling up the aphorism, "In the Kingdom of God, capitalism will not be possible and communism will not be necessary". A different set of choices is possible and may be just around the bend for increasing numbers of people. I'm very much looking forward to reading Jim Wallis' "Rediscovering Values" to see if any of this finds resonance there.

It is good to keep in mind that tentmaking as a way to describe Christians (usually applied to leaders; but should really be applied to most everybody) who self fund their religious callings comes from Paul's trade making tents. It is important to realize that Paul simply made some tents, sold them and kept his focus on his mission. He was wasn't climbing the corporate ladder of the Mediterranean Division of a multinational corporation called Tents R Us. He did his work and it helped keep his calling engaged.

I'm sure I'm going to be back to this a number of times before I strike anything remotely looking like balance.