What

"Works"

For

YOU?

All of us are touched by the basics of daily living. Try as we may to find a quiet place where we can live in total Peace, it doesn't happen. You wake up, and your mate is moody and sullen. The kids have the flu and are restless, and you get to work and a co-worker you trust bites your head off! You wonder, "Why do I bother at ALL?!!!

For a lot of people today (even those that go by the name of "Christian"), it's easier to pull one's head in, look at how "the government subsidizes everyone else anyway", and say, "I deserve! I'm going to let someone else take care of me!" For all of us at some time or other, the words "work" or "job" take on a negative connotation. But they don't need to! I don't think they're even supposed to!

Scriptures has a considerable amount to say about work. For myself, the one that always sticks in my mind is, "Hey -ya don't work, ya don't eat!" (MY paraphrase!) Actually, It Says (via the Apostles Speaking for Christ), "For even when we were with you, this is commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat." (2 Thessalonians 3:10) But for a lot of people, they look at Genesis, Chapter 3, and say, "Well, work is a necessary evil. God simply cursed everything because the first family sinned -now I have to pay the price by doing what I don't even enjoy!"

Ah! But there's the catch! The word "curse" and the word "enjoy"! What is the curse, and: can we truly "enjoy" work, and why are we expected to do it?? Whether you believe, as I do, that Life is a Contiuum, or think that once we are gone from here -we're gone! (heaven forbid!)- there is a deeper purpose to why we need to "work" (and I am not talking about just a "9 to 5" job outside the home!).

For those who read the Scriptures, most think the word "enmity" means "to divide". "I (GOD) will put enmity between thee and the woman ..." (Genesis 3:15). But the word "enmity" means "hatred". And God isn't Speaking here of hatred between a man and woman, or of hatred between their offspring! In the Hebrew, the paragraphs there are a continuation of a Thought: that Thought being of how God wanted to put a hatred in us toward EVIL!!! It is not speaking of "hatred" (or "division") between us and God, each other, or our relationship to our world!!! It is a statement that says: "I (GOD) have had it with a force of evil hurting my people, so I will place a hatred of evil in my people, so my own (and we are all His own, whether or not we have accepted that fact) will no longer be hurt! (Verse 14 is speaking of how Christ will come and Triumph over evil, and verse 15 begins with the continuation of of His Plan for the hatred of evil in His Creation!)

Alright, so we aren't cursed: we are being Loved and Protected! (Whew!) Then why do we need to work -aside from the obvious of needing a way to put food in our mouths, and keep a roof over our head?

Well, I know it sounds trite, and old fashioned, but it's very simple! Work is not a "necessary evil", but a necessary GOOD! Work builds Character! Work Matures us! Work brings us into contact with others, and so "rubs" us, and ruffles our feathers -giving us the chance to show our true nature! Are we growing in Beauty? Or are we developing meanness? Do we express Kind Answers to the best of our ability, and Smile in the hopes of spreading joy, or do we answer with a "snap" and frown??? Are we becoming Compassionate, or hateful? WHO are we following: the evil we're supposed to be separated from, or The One Who Desires to Protect us?

Today, too many people wrongly assume they will never need to "climb the ladder" to attain. Our public leaders and Christian spokesmen are some of the worst at saying, "I've never held a lesser position, and I don't intend to now!" But do we like their characters? They come off being mean, petty and small -and because they're so out of touch with Life as it truly is, their morals are not geared to service toward others, but of greed for themselves. And one day, we will all so tire of it, we WILL demand a change toward a Higher Calling! It's coming! Trash begets trash. Love begets Love! That's God's division! (That's why He gave us the Ten Commandments: so we'd know evil when it presents itself to us, and so take steps [in our hatred of it] to put distance between it and ourselves!)

Has anyone ruffled you today? Did you know they are probably hurting? How did you respond? Was your reaction one that the Father would have smiled upon and hugged you for presenting?

We can look at the clouds and "see" rain, even if it is not there, or we can look beyond the clouds, to see the rainbow! Remember, we're here to grow! We are here to help make this world and the lives of others better! Give your very best in whatever you do for a living! Work for your employer "as if this were YOUR own business! What would you want or expect from that? And if you have your own business, give to it with a Servant's Heart, doing for others what you would long that someone might do for you!

Never compete with others -concentrate on YOU! Be the best YOU can be! If you don't like what you've done -strive to do better the next time! Remember, we're not alone here. The Father Holds our hand every step of The Way! So, Remember-

When you stretch your wings to fly
You should be looking toward the sky!

Have a Rainbow filled day!


-Diana Lynn Tritch
March 5, 2000