Working for the Master

Why does one have to work?

Of course, God said that if we don’t, we will be looking at poverty on the face for a lazy person bears no fruit. 

But what are we working for?  Often times the answer we get when we ask this question is “for the family”, “for the people who depend on me”, “or for myself”.  But what really is the meaning of work?

We spend most of our prime time at work. We are surrounded by our workmates and sometimes in a big company, we do not even know their names even though their faces are familiar and we may wear the same uniform.

When work is simply equated with income, then the fruit one harvests will be the financial returns of labor and all it can afford. But when work includes the investment of time on meaningful pursuits that do not limit itself to professional expression and promotion, then work expands to multiplying relationships, gaining deeper friendships, and sharing what one knows to help others help themselves.

My hand has been uncomfortable with overuse. Well, that is what my doctor has said.  Dequerveintynosinuvitis. It hurts to hold the mouse, to text, to type, to drive and even to turn the doorknob. And with work like I have, I need my hand to do things. I know all of us do, so it is important to keep well. Yet sometimes we take a lot of things for granted when we simply look at the targets we have to meet, the reports we have to make, the preparations we have to do before a class, or a presentation at work. But the question returns, why do we have to exert?  Why work?

Labor day allowed me to sit and be still, And as I just did that, I noted how blessed I am with work and the people who I have made my family at work. I have also been blessed with people who work with their hearts, my physical therapist for instance who texts me and inquires how I am even if I don’t go for sessions anymore. The doctors who consider my work life and try to make things easy and find ways to ease the pain without subjecting me to unnecessary treatment risks. And my work team who take on some tasks to ease the burden off my hand.

But let’s not just talk about me.  Let’s talk about the community of workers who run last labor day, who celebrated peace in the workplace and who view work not just as something to do to occupy their time but as a commitment to workmates who, without them will have to take on extra work.

Let us talk about the people in manufacturing lines, who work on shifts and make sure they are there because they do not want the line to stop if they do not man their stations, or have to be there mainly because they do not want their shift partner to miss his rest because the former was not responsible enough to make earlier arrangements for leaves. 

Let us look at the people who facilitate requests, review expenses or make safety audits to ensure that materials are not just ready but are of good quality so that they last; or that the company keeps afloat because finances are healthy, or all equipment and facilities are free from hazard and people are protected.

Let us view what business does beyond business where they not just think to profit but look at the needs of their communities and try to share whatever they have so that their neighbors also enjoy their being part of the community.

There is a lot that work can do and working for the best master is a blessing one cannot discount.  And that master is God.

May He bless your work.