Age Quod Agis

“From Saint Ignatius, this short phrase’s message is straightforward yet powerful: Do what you are doing.”

Writer’s note: The various levels of American government are having trouble carrying out their most basic functions. Some Ignatian wisdom could serve them well.

Age Quod Agis. “Do what you are doing.” There is a great deal of wisdom wrapped up within the simplicity of this Latin dictum, implanted in my mind while attending a Catholic Jesuit high school in Philadelphia. From Saint Ignatius, this short phrase’s message is straightforward yet powerful: Do what you are doing. Dedicate yourself wholeheartedly to the task at hand. Stay focused. Hand over your full self to whatever it is that you are doing: your role, your passion, your job, you name it.

This Ignatian wisdom applies not only to individuals but also to organizations. Businesses, volunteer associations, and governments often find themselves bogged down with myriad duties and tasks as they carry out their overarching goals of making a profit, helping the poor, or advancing the common good. Different constituencies demand different goods; different roadblocks and hindrances continuously arise. In the face of a constant multiplicity of tasks on the docket, it is a challenge to focus wholeheartedly on whatever singular task is immediately at hand. And without that singular focus, individuals and organizations can fall prey to drift and inefficiency. When insufficient interest and energy are devoted to the task at hand—when individuals fail to abide by Saint Ignatius’s wisdom—the quality of the finished product inevitably suffers.

American government—at the federal, state, and local levels—has fallen far short of the Ignatian mark in recent years. One need not be a policy wonk on budgeting, spending, and taxation to figure this out; a surface-level understanding of our constitutional structure and current events will suffice. All levels of American government are failing effectively and efficiently to carry out some of their most basic tasks. A key source of their failure has been their desire to engage in tasks for which they are not suited, allowing their core competencies to atrophy and their most pressing duties to go partially unfulfilled.