Okay, so I've discovered the remedy for a crappy attitude:
Step 1: Pray
Step 2: Listen to a Jack Johnson CD (it really doesn't matter which one)
Step 3: Blog about it
Do you ever get the feeling that your job is pointless? I dunno, I guess I just go through these times when I forget all the ways that I'm blessed and choose to dwell on the unfounded and unhelpful thoughts. This afternoon it will take discipline to steer my attitude in a helpful direction but sometimes thats what it takes. Just a short blog to let everyone know I'm still alive - alive and doing better than my blog would portray I promise ;-)
4 comments :
Dude, I'd say most jobs are pointless. It's mostly based on the world's perspective of productivity that drives their creation and eventual fulfillment by someone like you who wants more from something that doesn't have the capacity to give more than it is. That's how I felt about my work at Delphi. They made freaking brakes. That'll end world hunger, all right. Let's see how many brakes we can assemble in a year! Wow, what a career goal.
But, listen to Paul, because he seems reasonable: you're doing it not for your own glory or fulfillment, but for His glory. It's just one avenue in which faith is manifested. Another is your relationship with your co-workers. Another is your relationship w/ your wife (BAM!), you friends. Another is how you deal with this seemingly pointless job, not just the "doing it" part.
Rock it for God.
Rock on man, great comment. By and large, I definitely resonate with "living to the glory of God" but its the whole "writing TPS reports to the glory of God" that I still struggle with. I've decided to really pursue this with God in the coming months. You're right that the Bible says "do all things to the glory of God" so I know its possible but I'm just not there yet. I do have faith, though, that as I ask God for that ability that he will grant it.
This is a great venue for a conversation like this though because its an issue that, I think, we can only start to find insight on in community. By myself, I have no more answers than I did yesterday. But, in community, I think we can pool our life experiences and really start to understand things the way God does.
Good point on community. That's what church is for. Fellowship. I wouldn't be where I am without it. Sometimes it seems like God works through other people more easily (for us to comprehend, not for Him to do) than through the things we do ourselves.
But I understand completely. Is God really glorified with TPS reports or my exam grades? I have no idea. For the most part, I've seen that answers lie in where your heart is. As long as you would do it for His glory, He'll be pleased. That's what I'm told and what I've read. It's not like I don't have the choice, but I pretty much have to believe that. "Without faith, it is impossible to please God." Heb 11:6
It's also interesting that you're not quite "there" yet, with the thoughts surrounding the specific thing that glorifies God versus the doing of the thing that glorifies Him. Hehe, I can't help but be surprised sometimes when something comes up that I'm sure of and you're not. ...which is supposed to be a positive comment on your spiritual progress, and my own I guess. In my mind it is, anyway.
Good point and great conversation. And so that is the nature of faith - that it is constantly in process and continually reprocessed. The Christian who tells you that s/he "has it all figured out" is a liar. And the one that tells you s/he has never had to revisit a past lesson to see how it comes to bare in the present hasn't followed God long enough yet.
And so what I'm clear on is the present (negative) effect of such pointless work on my mindset (I say this somewhat tongue-in-cheek). But what I have yet to discover is its future benefit; the operative word being "future" (i.e. "not here yet"). In its absense, what can and must fill the void is faith - that God is good and that this discipline somehow moves me closer in line with his image. Working backwards, this must then effect my mindset to work in a constructive way toward the benefit yet to be revealed.
What a confusing comment!! hehe, I'm just thinking out loud. It makes perfect sense to me ;-)
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