As my friend Holly prepares an office for her expanding dental practice, she and I discuss how to properly bless it. During construction, I drive by the work site, offering prayers for the workers, for the work being done, and for what will come of the new building. We haven’t officially blessed it. What words to say? Whom to invite? What to use? Water? Candles? Flowers? I come from a tradition that sought to get away from all but the essentials for worship. Still, I believe that as human beings, if we are fortunate, we pick up on the world around us via sight, sound, taste, scent, and touch. Finding ways to connect these senses with a sense of the sacred in the work space is a way to honor the notion that there is no place where the divine is not.
    I ask a few friends, “Would you say the ground on which you walk at the office is holy?” One friend snorts with laughter. “As if,” she says. For some, the sacred and the ordinary are not far apart at work. For others, the workplace may feel like a war zone.
    Joseph Campbell said, “Your sacred space is where you find yourself again and again.” How do you bridge the connection between these spaces? My friend Shri keeps several Hindu images of the divine in his work space: Saraswati, bestower of knowledge; Rama, bestower of ethics; Hanuman, bestower of devotion and power; and Ganesh, bestower of auspiciousness and safety. In India, Hindis, Jains, Sikhs, Buddhists, and Christians display their god images in their offices freely. Often, shopkeepers will open their shops with a brief prayer by lighting oil lamps or incense. Before moving into a new home or office, a special worship is performed to sanctify the new space. Once a year, around Diwali, the festival of lights, worship of Laxmi, bestower of wealth and prosperity, is performed in a special way at homes, shops, factories, and workplaces. Once a year, tools are consecrated for use by artists and craftsmen.
    Keeping the sacred in the workplace is not always as easy here in the U.S. Muslim believers may have difficulty finding a space and time to practice namaz or salat, their five prayers of the day. Company policies often dictate which symbols can and cannot be visible, and images that are seen as proselytizing can be problematic for Christian, Jewish, and Buddhist workers. However, workers can always utter silent prayers or meditations.
    To bridge the potential gulf between work space and sacred space, ask yourself these questions: What is the policy at my workplace regarding religious or spiritual expression? What can I have at my work space that I can taste, see, smell, hear, or touch to remind me of what I believe? What helps me keep the perspective I desire? Is there a time during my workday when I can pray or meditate? How does my body respond to my workplace? How do I put closure on my workday? Is there a ritual (e.g., saying something as I shut down my computer) that I can incorporate at the end of the day to help me to leave work at the workplace?
    View your work space with new eyes. What serves to remind you of your deeper purpose there? Taking moments to reflect upon the timelessness of the divine can imbue your workday with meaning it may otherwise lack.
    In truth, it won’t matter what we use to bless Holly’s work space. We all take the holy with us wherever we go. It’s a matter of finding that sacred space inside and returning there again and again, until the bridge between the sacred space and the work space becomes a known road, a blessed path.      

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