Ed Zablocki, SFO
Co-Chair, Work Commission
TGIF! Isn't that the most widely known and most wholeheartedly agreed to acronym in
America. Thank God it's Friday! Thank God we're done with work for the week and
can get on the business of our real lives with our families and friends. A recent cover
of Newsweek magazine featured the cartoon character Dilbert accompanied by 2 inch
high lettering which expressed this sentiment in even stronger terms: WORK IS HELL
Do we have it all wrong? We act as though work were a curse and are thankful to be
freed from the yoke. Is work a curse? Doesn't the Bible say that having to work is part
of the punishment man suffered man will have to earn his daily bread by the sweat of
his brow? Yes, it certainly does but this is a description of work after the Fall. Let's
go to God's word in the book of Genesis to see what the Creator originally had in mind
for humanity in relation to work.
First, consider the Creation itself:
Now, if we stop to think about it - that man is meant to work should come as no
surprise - after all, we are created in God's image and what is the most striking image
of our God found in Genesis? Who is our God who brings life and order from
nothingness and the void? God the Creator! Work is one of the most powerful ways in
which we reflect the image of the Creator.
Paradise! We all have our paradise fantasies of that place where life is perfect. Mine
places me under a cabana sipping a cool, tropical drink, lounging near the ocean, soft
breezes caressing my face and waves lapping at my toes. A place where everything is
taken care of for me. Snap my fingers and another drink appears just like that. No
work here. Not for me at least.
God sees Paradise a little differently. Here is a quote from Genesis 2:15: "Yahweh
God took Adam and settled him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and care for it."
God wanted humankind to work even in paradise. Work is part of God's original plan
for man.
Work done as God intended is not a curse but a blessing. Work is our magnificent
opportunity to reflect the image of our Creator. God created man and woman in His
image and empowered humanity to carry on his creation. Creation isn't finished yet
and we are, in a fundamental way, called to be co-creators.
Dialogue Starters
1. Do you view work as a blessing or a curse?
2. How are you a co-creator with the Father in you everyday life?
This entire process of bringing the earth under human dominion is accomplished
precisely through that purposeful human effort we call "work."
Our Rule has it right when it describes work as a "sharing in the creation." Well,
maybe it should be "sharing in the Creation" but I won't quibble. There's another
change I'd suggest: Secular Franciscans should begin saying "TGIM" - Thank God it's
Monday! Now that will get some interesting conversations started.