Work (Sacredness of)
“It was said to mankind in the person of Adam: In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread (Gen. 3:19). Any work that we do every day, both at home and at work, is a kind of ascetic labor, because it requires efforts, knowledge and creativity. If you love your job sincerely, trying to do it to the best of your ability, this is your daily feat, which will bring good fruits.” (Bishop Porfiry)
“Christ both showed by example as well as taught us that we are to serve others. Greatness in Christ’s terms means serving others, meeting their needs and laboring for the good of others…All the work we do is supposed to be done to the glory of God. This is why our work should come from the heart. We are not working just for ourselves, for our gain, for our income, as Christians we are always working for God and that is supposed to guide whatever labor we perform.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“Whether washing the disciples’ feet or dying on the cross, Christ was working for us and for our salvation. That is true of everything He did [which we hear whenever the priest pronounces the dismissal at so many feasts of Christ: “who for us and for our salvation … ” and then he states what it is Christ did]. We should have that same mindset whenever we do any work, we should have at least in the back of our minds how we might also work for the salvation of the world… We labor that we may profit, but labor loses its meaning (see Mt 16:26) when it has no eternal purpose.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh, Orthodox Study Bible, Ecclesiastes 1:3-7)
“When God proclaimed that the earth was good, He was not referring merely to a static creation but to the dynamic processes He set in motion during the Creation week. Thus, the doctrine of creation leads to the doctrine of teleology, which affirms that God has coordinated bodies and organisms to flourish according to the telos (final goal) appropriate to the nature of each thing. God has tasked humankind, as monarch and priest of creation, with the vocation of gently shepherding the things of creation toward their proper teleology. The task of wisdom is to seek alignment between final goals and present practices, between means and end, and thus to cooperate with the Creator in the fulfillment of the world.” (Robin Phillips)
“In modern culture, we are very comfortable with the idea that things are “going somewhere.” We think of “progress,” and economic growth, etc. The root of such notions were borrowed from Christian tradition and “secularized.” Classical Christianity teaches that there is, indeed, movement and growth – a change that is taking place in all things. Creation is not static. However, modernity’s notions of “progress” (largely undefined) are a deviation from this teaching. Modernity has obscured the true doctrine of providence – God’s work in all things – leaving Christians at the mercy of business and politics.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
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