Full-Time Work
I haven’t had a regular full-time job in over a year. At first, this was really weird, and really hard to accept, and I didn’t know how to deal with it.
Last weekend we were at a Redeemer retreat about work and how to figure out what our vocations are. I was gratified that the speaker, R. Paul Stevens was Canadian, born, bred, “eh” and all.
One clear challenge we went home with was that in the beginning, in Genesis 1-3, when work was good and not cursed Adam didn’t have one full-time job but at least three:
1) Being in communion with God
2) Community building – fellowship, neighboring
3) Co-creativity - meaningful work, taking care of the earth
Think about this for a minute: our day job IS important to God, but just as much, if not more so is that solitary half hour spent with the Word, paying attention to God's signature on faces and places and moments you experience each day. And just as much so, is the time we devote to fellowship and service to our neighbors whether that means having friends over for dinner, praying for the people you promised to pray for, hanging out with the new kind on the block or...so many possibilities!
What would it be like if we reordered our priorities so that walking with God, building our community AND meaningful work were ALL our full-time business?
I have to say, I've been getting much more ok about not having normal full-time work.
The speaker’s thoughts on “passion” as it relates to work:
-drivenness is passion gone bad, focused inwards to meet unmet needs for acceptance and approval, performance oriented and addictive rather than life-giving
-passion is God’s inspired and life-giving energy
-passion is discovered by: What do you dream about? In what kind of activity do you lose all sense of time? When do you feel fully alive? What are the things you obsess about, daydream about, wish you had more time to put energy into? What needs doing in the world that you’d like to put your talents to work on? What activities reflect deep and consistent interests?
Last weekend we were at a Redeemer retreat about work and how to figure out what our vocations are. I was gratified that the speaker, R. Paul Stevens was Canadian, born, bred, “eh” and all.
One clear challenge we went home with was that in the beginning, in Genesis 1-3, when work was good and not cursed Adam didn’t have one full-time job but at least three:
1) Being in communion with God
2) Community building – fellowship, neighboring
3) Co-creativity - meaningful work, taking care of the earth
Think about this for a minute: our day job IS important to God, but just as much, if not more so is that solitary half hour spent with the Word, paying attention to God's signature on faces and places and moments you experience each day. And just as much so, is the time we devote to fellowship and service to our neighbors whether that means having friends over for dinner, praying for the people you promised to pray for, hanging out with the new kind on the block or...so many possibilities!
What would it be like if we reordered our priorities so that walking with God, building our community AND meaningful work were ALL our full-time business?
I have to say, I've been getting much more ok about not having normal full-time work.
The speaker’s thoughts on “passion” as it relates to work:
-drivenness is passion gone bad, focused inwards to meet unmet needs for acceptance and approval, performance oriented and addictive rather than life-giving
-passion is God’s inspired and life-giving energy
-passion is discovered by: What do you dream about? In what kind of activity do you lose all sense of time? When do you feel fully alive? What are the things you obsess about, daydream about, wish you had more time to put energy into? What needs doing in the world that you’d like to put your talents to work on? What activities reflect deep and consistent interests?
posted by Duncan and Jen | 9:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home