Avoiding anger dilemma

[HappyPerson]

When Jesus spoke about getting rid of parts of our lives that provoke us to sin, figuratively referring to hands and eyes, (Matthew 5:29-30), what about this scenario:
Say someone is living a life, as best as he can in obedience to God, but is unemployed. Say that the only thing that causes him anger or frustration in life, is the job search, which despite his intense efforts has been unfruitful for nearly TWO YEARS. He has multiple college degrees, but just can’t seem to even, “buy a job,” despite genuine efforts. When he thinks of this, he gets all types of extremely angry thoughts that bring him away from God. For the betterment of his soul, he would really like to give up the whole job search and intense frustration that comes with it, but it is not like some job is just going to be handed to him. He has tried the local job placement agencies, and to no avail. He either has too much education and not enough experience, or too much experience and not enough education. Like Michael Douglas’ character in “Falling Down,” he does not feel as if he is “economically viable,” and is getting more and more disenfranchised every day in what seems to be a dead end job SEARCH. All other aspects of his life are going very smoothly, however, and as long as he is not thinking about his job status, he is filled with joy. Yet, his unemployment is this horrible dark cloud hanging over his head. He also thinks of the parable of the talents and feels as if the bad economy is forcing him to bury his talents, against his will. What would you recommend for someone in this situation? He is already praying about it, so something more than that, please. Thank You.

 

[als10062008]

This may be redundant, but he may really have to reach out and network. Perhaps look at ways to broaden the networking. Reach out to friends and professors from college, former coworkers, post an ad on craigslist, develop time in freelancing, check with his priest on any job hirings he may know of, volunteer at his parish or with a local org, etc. What industry is he in? Many industries have peer groups in cities. Is he able to take a job outside the local area, or is he willing to relocate?

Everybody in hiring says networking is the thing to do, so perhaps some time developing relationships will help. It’s easy for a hiring manager to feel better about the person if he comes through a trusted source. Hope this helps.

 

[gelsbern]

It may also be God letting you know to stop looking for work in the area you are looking for. Maybe right now isn’t the best time to get a job in that field. I am in IT, and earlier in the decade I was laid off after Y2K came and went. I spent 15 months looking for an IT job. It never came about, what did happen though was avenues were open for another line of werk. In my case it ended up being driving a semi over the road. I did that for 6 months, and then ran a courier route for another year, suddenly out of the blue an IT job was offered to me almost on the spot, and I hadn’t sent my resume out in quite some time.

Looking back, I met a lot people in different stations of life, some poor, some uneducated, some just plain down and out and I learned compassion. I also learned how to get by on less, I believe that after I learned the lessons God wanted me to learn, that it was then I was able to get back into the IT field.

Pray about where God wants you to be, instead of praying for where you want to be.

 

[Mea_Culpa]

Since you posted this in the Sacred Scripture forum, think about what Paul says in Romans 5:3-5:

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given us.

 

[HappyPerson]

I would like to thank all three of you who replied. Three different replies, yet complementary at the same time. The practical perspective, deep theological/philosophical perspective, and the “apply this Scripture to your situation” perspective. All are helpful to the situation I wrote about. It’s so wonderful to see Catholics who are out to help others, as we are called to do. Thanks, again, all three of you.

 

[als10062008]

Something else to throw out there would be to randomly reach to out to someone in the field. Invite them to lunch and ask if they could read over the person’s resume, if they know of anyone in their network that’s hiring, etc.

This one will require coming out of the shell, but it can be worth it. Keep the antennas up for when an opportunity comes along.

 

[Pamela1000]

I would like to thank all three of you who replied. Three different replies, yet complementary at the same time. The practical perspective, deep theological/philosophical perspective, and the “apply this Scripture to your situation” perspective. All are helpful to the situation I wrote about. It’s so wonderful to see Catholics who are out to help others, as we are called to do. Thanks, again, all three of you.

I was unemployed since Dec. 2007 and recently hired by a woman who immediately anounced that she is Catholic and attending comtemplatative prayer meetings etc. I have never witnessed someone so rude and condescending to me. I have 30 years experience and her management style is hostile. I am looking for something else and can only believe that God wants me to pray for her. It is very discouraging to meet someone like this who identifies themself as CATHOLIC. I asked her to attend Mass with me during a seminar last week at lunch as time would have allowed that and she originally agreed and then reneged. I went without her, If it weren’t for the Eucharist I think I would have assaulted her. LOL Thanks for letting me vent and I think I need to go pray again.

 

[bullfrog543]

well i dont necassarily agree with you all on anger i believe open discussion can be very rewarding in a marriage instead of allowing things to boil up inside. at times leaving and going for a walk to cool down is smart.