When You're at Work Be at Work...continued...
I've been thinking more about that last post. So here's another thought: God created us to work. He wants us to be efficient and productive in our work because work is intrinsically good. Work isn't part of some punishment that God meted out to Adam when he sinned in the garden. Too many people, even Catholics, think of work this way.
Just read Genesis 2:4. God has created the earth and everything in it. But he hasn't "watered" things yet. And why didn't he?
See, God planned to have us work when he created the universe. He made us to work. So at the same time that He started watering everything so it would grow, He created Adam:
God figured what's the point of making things grow if no one's there to till the land, to enjoy the fruits of the earth. So when God made man - Adam - He already had work lined up for him to do. Work was an integral part of this creature that God created. And where was man going to work? In a sweat shop? Hunched over a laptop. Under the oppressive eye of some overbearing nasty boss waiting to pounce at the first mistake he made? No way.
Of course, Adam and Eve screwed up and ate the apple. And there went Paradise. At the same time, work became something oppressive - but only because of sin. It wasn't work itself that was intended to be oppressive. Eve was tempted by the Devil. Then she convinced Adam that he should join her in eating the apple...well, you know the story. And it's only after their sin that work - originally something done in Paradise, would become "labor."
So what does this have to do with disciplining yourself to work efficiently and productive by being in the present moment when you're at work (what we started talking about last time)? It gets back to the fact that work is part of what we are as human beings, as creatures of God, of the same loving Father who made us to be in Paradise and - because of our sins - wound up having to send His only begotten Son to live among us, only to suffer and die, then rise from the dead, all so that we could get back to Paradise, where he intended us to be in the first place.
And by concentrating on our work, while we're at work, we not only make sure we can spend adequate time with our families, and be fully present when we're with them, but we give the work that God intended for us it's full due.
By concentrating, being in the present moment, we give ourselves fully to our work, just as God intended from the beginning. That's why we need to give ourselves fully to our work, to do our very best.
So not only do all those distractions and lack of concentration keep us working longer than we need to, they keep us from doing the great job we ought to be doing, the great job that God wants us to do.
Okay, so work can be difficult, dull, oppressive, even loathsome for some of us, or for some of the time. Just remember it wasn't supposed to be that way. It was supposed to be part of our lives in Paradise - a wonderful part of a wonderful life that we threw away.
So be at work when you're at work. Because being at work is being exactly where God intended us to be right from the beginning.
Just read Genesis 2:4. God has created the earth and everything in it. But he hasn't "watered" things yet. And why didn't he?
"...there was not a man to till the earth."
See, God planned to have us work when he created the universe. He made us to work. So at the same time that He started watering everything so it would grow, He created Adam:
"But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of the earth. And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth: and breathed into his face the breath of life,
and man became a living soul." (Genesis 2:6-7)
God figured what's the point of making things grow if no one's there to till the land, to enjoy the fruits of the earth. So when God made man - Adam - He already had work lined up for him to do. Work was an integral part of this creature that God created. And where was man going to work? In a sweat shop? Hunched over a laptop. Under the oppressive eye of some overbearing nasty boss waiting to pounce at the first mistake he made? No way.
"And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure
from the beginning: wherein he placed man
whom he had formed." (Genesis 2:8)
Of course, Adam and Eve screwed up and ate the apple. And there went Paradise. At the same time, work became something oppressive - but only because of sin. It wasn't work itself that was intended to be oppressive. Eve was tempted by the Devil. Then she convinced Adam that he should join her in eating the apple...well, you know the story. And it's only after their sin that work - originally something done in Paradise, would become "labor."
"Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work; with labour and toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life." (Genesis 3:17)
So what does this have to do with disciplining yourself to work efficiently and productive by being in the present moment when you're at work (what we started talking about last time)? It gets back to the fact that work is part of what we are as human beings, as creatures of God, of the same loving Father who made us to be in Paradise and - because of our sins - wound up having to send His only begotten Son to live among us, only to suffer and die, then rise from the dead, all so that we could get back to Paradise, where he intended us to be in the first place.
And by concentrating on our work, while we're at work, we not only make sure we can spend adequate time with our families, and be fully present when we're with them, but we give the work that God intended for us it's full due.
By concentrating, being in the present moment, we give ourselves fully to our work, just as God intended from the beginning. That's why we need to give ourselves fully to our work, to do our very best.
So not only do all those distractions and lack of concentration keep us working longer than we need to, they keep us from doing the great job we ought to be doing, the great job that God wants us to do.
Okay, so work can be difficult, dull, oppressive, even loathsome for some of us, or for some of the time. Just remember it wasn't supposed to be that way. It was supposed to be part of our lives in Paradise - a wonderful part of a wonderful life that we threw away.
So be at work when you're at work. Because being at work is being exactly where God intended us to be right from the beginning.
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