Some visionaries tell us that, in the future, people will
not work at all.
At first, that possibility sounds wonderful, and it could
well be our personal hope, too.
In fact, it is highly unlikely and not even desirable,
because work is an integral part of human life, and has been from earliest
times.
Many people think that work came to human life after Adam
and Eve had sinned as a punishment for sin. But Genesis 2 tells us otherwise.
In this text, we find the earliest biblical interpretation of creation, God
creates the first mortals, plants a garden and places the man there to cultivate
and care for it.
As Labor Day weekend looms before us to mark the traditional
end of summer, and we turn our faces to the fall season, let’s pause to rethink
the meaning and value of work as integral to our lives. What dangers exists
that thwart making work meaningful today?
For Christians, work is one of the ways we are Godlike. God
not only created once long ago, God creates today, here and now. God has
invited us to be creators too. We create new life, imaginative and fruitful
ideas, beauty, fun. God in Jesus has performed the work of redemption, and
continues to do so today. In John’s Gospel, for example, Jesus talks to Philip
and the other disciples about the works he does – works that are healing
enlarging, reconciling. We are called to do these works too, to help transform
the world.
Wherever we work, whatever we do, we are a significant part
of a divine-human relationship that makes the world a better place in every way
possible.
Some of the jobs people do, while they contribute to the
over-all wellbeing of the community, can be easily and peacefully left at the
end of an eight hour day. One danger of the jobs that can be left at the end of
the day is choosing not to do them well – to have a sense that it doesn’t
matter. Other jobs demand much more of a commitment, continued learning and
practice. The danger in these jobs is that they become so absorbing that we
become overcommitted to them to the detriment of other important aspects of our
lives. In the end, we can fall victim to our jobs – and become the proverbial
workaholic.
Here are two invitations that can help us recommit ourselves
to our work in a fresh way:
Place our daily work – whatever it is – into the framework of God’s creative and
redeeming love – to see
what we do as important, because in working we participate in God’s continual
shaping of our universe.
Place our daily work in the context of life.
Work isn’t all there is, yet work contains elements of friendship, community building, education, faith, play and
celebration.
Enjoy whatever aspects of your work you can. Enjoy other
people’s creative work.
~ Sister Joan Sobala
