Work for Good

The Dean of the Duke University Chapel has written a book on “burnout,” particularly among the clergy. He interviewed scores of pastors who had called it quits because, in their own minds, they had burned out. They complained of being overburdened by their work … stressed out … crushed by the demands of the job. The author commented:

After talking with many of those who claimed to have burned out, and with counselors who had tried to help them, I decided that sometimes we feel burned out, not because we have too much to do, but because we have too much which is meaningless and unimportant to do. Life’s greatest burden is not in having too much to do (some of the happiest people I know are the busiest) but in having nothing worthwhile to do. Energy is a renewable resource. Good work appears to produce more energy to do more good work. People burn out, from what I observe, not because they have too…