Daniel's Story: Great Things in Plastic

How exciting do you think developing new plastic compounds could be?

Well, for Daniel Midcalf it is something he is really enthusiastic about. He loves the challenge of being given a brief to create a new type of plastic and then working away in the laboratory until he finds something that might meet the customer’s needs. The real delight comes when he tests his new creation in the customer’s factory and sees it work out just as he had hoped and imagined it would. Daniel finds the process of developing an idea and successfully producing an end product to be very satisfying.

Work, when it is most engaging, offers us this opportunity to lose ourselves in the process of creation. At such times we can feel very close to God. Daniel told me, slightly tongue in cheek, that he believed that “perhaps God wants me to do great things in plastics.” And why not?

Whilst the real purpose of Daniel’s work may be ‘doing great things in plastics’, it is the quality of the relationships that he encounters and fosters which make all the difference to his success. Daniel feels that he has just as strong a calling to this part of his work as he has to mixing molecules. Doing business is all about relationships. Daniel really works at this. He seeks to move beyond the impersonal roles that one can easily hide behind in business, to foster relationships that are personal and based on friendship.

Daniel has plenty of evidence that relationships in the workplace are fragile things. “The workplace can sometimes be a political minefield that you have to tip-toe around,” he observed.

Daniel talked about relationships between two sites in the same company that were characterised by suspicion and mistrust. Because he dealt with both, he often found himself as a go-between, being quizzed by one party about the other. He talked about a relationship between two people which had broken down completely. They could no longer communicate with each other at all, and they really needed to for the sake of the business. Daniel spoke of how competitiveness and lack of support between teams meant that efforts are duplicated and people’s energies are wasted.

Daniel’s Christian formation has given him a moral code that he feels guides him in his relationships with those he meets. It is simply; treat others as you would want to be treated, don’t judge others, be honest, be fair, be straightforward, don’t say you will do something and not follow through. Sadly, he observed, too many relationships at work do not operate from this basis.

Daniel has also formed a wider vision for relationships at work. He believes they should be based on a genuine sense of mutuality and trust. He recognises that he can do a lot to foster this feeling amongst those he works with. This involves taking a few risks and pushing out the boundaries on his part.

As he reflected on the connection between his faith and his work, Daniel expressed some unease that he found it easier to foster new relationships and take risks at work, than he did in his church activities.

Like many Christians, Daniel feels a bit uneasy that he does not take the same risks with those he meets when it comes to sharing his faith. He is concerned that he might be seen as a ‘closet Christian’. He feels that a proper expression of his faith is to be prepared to speak up about what you believe to others. Daniel’s deep experience of church, since he became a choir boy at six years old, has not conditioned him for uninhibited expression of faith with strangers. He has a sneaky admiration for those who have the courage to ‘wear their faith on their sleeve’.

But perhaps Daniel, and many others like him, are undervaluing the real contribution he is making to God’s work right where he is, amongst those that he encounters day-by-day. There are numerous opportunities for bringing this vision of greater mutuality into reality. There is much healing and reconciliation to be done in the factories and offices where we work. There are risks to be taken and bridges to be built.

There are boundless opportunities for people of faith to work with God, in the world of work, in the midst of creation, on God’s mission of creating a kingdom based on mutuality, trust and friendship and showing how that can transform the way we live and work.

The Daniels of the world need to be affirmed in this challenging expression of their faith in the day-to day realities of life at work.