Spirituality At Work

Spirituality, Work and the Movies (Part 1)

By Woodeene Koenig-Bricker

The next two months, we are presenting movies that illustrate and illuminate the spirituality of work from Greg Pierces' book on the Spirituality of Work by Ave Maria Press, (c) 2005 by Gregory F. Augustine Pierce (800) 397-2282; spiritualitywork@aol.com. They are all available on the Internet. If you look carefully at some films (and even at television shows in some cases), you can observe the spirituality of work being practiced. One of the things you will notice is that truly spiritual work is not about how pious the person is but about how and why he or she does the actual work.

Here are the first five of our top 10 movies about work.

1. It’s a Wonderful Life, written by Philip Van Doren Stern and directed by Frank Capra

 Most people think of this as a Christmas movie, but I have always thought of it as being about the spirituality of work. What made Jimmy Stewart’s character, George Bailey, so appealing and his life so meaningful? It was the way he did his work as a savings and loan executive, community volunteer, husband and father. It was always interesting to me that even though there is an angel in the picture, there is very little depiction of George Bailey’s religious or spiritual life. It is his work that was holy.

 2. A Christmas Carol, written by Charles Dickens and directed by Brian Desmond Hurst

 The best film version of this classic story is the one starring Alastair Sim. (The ones with George C. Scott and with Michael Caine and the Muppets are also very good). Much like It’s a Wonderful Life, this classic tale by Dickens is viewed by most people as a Christmas story, which it certainly is. But it can also be seen as a story of spiritual redemption that can come when we get our work aligned with our deepest and truest values. Remember, it was his work that almost destroyed Ebenezer Scrooge, and once he had his conversion, it was his work that allowed him to help other people, such as the poor, the Crachit family, and his nephew.

 3. To Kill a Mockingbird, written by Harper Lee and directed by Robert Mulligan

 Atticus Finch, the lawyer played by Gregory Peck, is every thinking man’s role model as a father. But he was also a competent and fearless lawyer. It was not just the way he tried the case in the movie, it was the way he dealt with his client and his client’s family, how he protected his own family, and the gentleness with which he dealt with Boo Radley that demonstrated the spirituality of his work. Again, there is not a lot of religion or piety portrayed in this movie. Much like George Baily, Atticus Finch was a holy man because of the way he did his work.

 4. Parenthood, written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel and directed by Ron Howard

 Another movie that depicts the spiritual work of parenting, albeit in very funny terms is Parenthood. Steve Martin plays a business executive who cannot get ahead in his firm because he is trying to balance his work and family life. Jason Robards plays Martin’s father, a gruff older man who realizes that the obligations of parenting are never over, no matter how old your kids are. The scenes between Martin and his wife, played by Mary Steenbergen, are funny and excruciatingly painful at the same time.

 5. Mac, written and directed by John Tuturro

 Another movie about family and work is the little-known movie Mac. John Tuturro stars as one of three brothers who start their own business building homes. What I like especially are the scenes of the care and quality the brothers put into the homes they build and how proud they are of their work. The opening scene is a beautiful cinematic homage to blue collar work, and Tuturro dedicated the movie to his own father, who apparently was a skilled craftsman.