Looking at Work From God's Point of View

A while back, in our ongoing discussion of Working Your Way into Heaven, Cardinal Wyszynski told us:

God prepared man for the role of His co-worker, endowing him with a rational will able to recognize and carry out God's intentions.

Now we'll dig a little deeper into the relationship between our work and God's work by looking at our work from God's point of view. We begin by recognizing that "our" work really doesn't belong to us. Perhaps a bit crushing for those of you who are particularly good and/or successful at what you do. It's only human to want to take credit for good work. But now we're being told that the work itself isn't really ours. Strange and humbling, isn't it? But Cardinal Wyszynski further dissects our work from God's point of view by referring to something we already knew:

...even in the most personal work we use powers and strength that are given to us by God, the Creator of nature. This work does not belong to us. for its character is not only personal but social as well...

God is the cause of all creation and the giver of strength and energy for work. He also directs human energies toward the plans He had established in the act of creation.. God has called us to cooperate with Him, and granted us appropriate powers, abilities...

The following shouldn't be news to us Catholics: we owe everything to God - everything. That's the whole point of developing the habit of thanking Him - constantly. Okay, so life's no bowl of cherries at times. Some of us go through periods where it might even be the pits for much longer than we'd prefer. But when you put your mind and heart into it, you'll likely find much for which to be grateful. And when it comes to our work, even a moderately humble soul will recognize that the skills and talents we use to accomplish our daily tasks were given to us originally and generously by God, even as we have put forth great effort to develop them to their highest potential.

So with this realization that our work, our skills, talents, and the energy we expend in our daily labors all find their origin in the Creator of everything, this should come as no surprise:

...The created world is God's workshop...

And working as we all do in His workshop, if we recognize the fundamental and critical reality of the ongoing, incessant labor of the Creator of the Universe, it will come as no great surprise when we discover that

The world if filled with the voice of God. Everything lives by God's activity.

Our discovery changes not only the way we perceive the world and its Creator, but all those with whom we work each day:

The very sight of its creatures has an educational effect, for we admire in them the complete perfection of God's activity.

Most of us naturally see work in light of its usefulness, evaluating the effectiveness of our efforts typically by how much value we've added to our company bottom line, or, if we work for a non-profit carrying out its mission. But there's more to our work than its utility:

God does not merely aim at purely useful work, but is mindful of beauty and decoration - there is aestheticism in what He does.

Surely we've all noticed the stunning beauty of His Creation. And seeing this, we should be mindful of our own work. It's not only the work of artists and musicians who bring beauty into this world. It's all of us. Really. For example, the work we do with our hands, when done with care, can not only provide a useful product, but one with aesthetic beauty. Think of well-made cabinetry, or even that light switch you may have installed in your home that blends in with the decor surrounding it. That's a little slice of beauty that your work produced, isn't it?

You can surely find many examples where utility and decoration combine in a pleasing partnership whether in your work space or your home. This simply reflects the beauty of Creation. We've learned from the Master. Even a well-organized and executed spreadsheet can exhibit beautiful form in its elegant presentation of data. Think about it.

We'll continue with seeing work from God's point of view next time. For now, there's a matter of a spreadsheet I need to elegantly assemble...