3 – 7 – 18 Enjoying God’s Earth and “Meaningless” Work (5 minutes)

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“98. Jesus lived in full harmony with creation, and others were amazed: “What sort of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him?” (Mt 8:27). His appearance was not that of an ascetic set apart from the world, nor of an enemy to the pleasant things of life. Of himself he said: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking and they say, ‘Look, a glutton and a drunkard!’”

 (Mt 11:19). He was far removed from philosophies which despised the body, matter and the things of the world. Such unhealthy dualisms, nonetheless, left a mark on certain Christian thinkers in the course of history and disfigured the Gospel. Jesus worked with his hands, in daily contact with the matter created by God, to which he gave form by his craftsmanship. It is striking that most of his life was dedicated to this task in a simple life which awakened no admiration at all: “Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary?” (Mk 6:3). In this way he sanctified human labour and endowed it with a special significance for our development. As Saint John Paul II taught, “by enduring the toil of work in union with Christ crucified for us, man in a way collaborates with the Son of God for the redemption of humanity” “

This paragraph gave me a great shock when I read it. I had to put my book down for a moment as I laid in bed reading, just to think. Two things in this paragraph shook me.

The first is that Jesus was not “an enemy to the pleasant things of life.” How much of what we admire in faith is denial of pleasure?

I remember recently being quite confused by the strong liking I noticed among two priests I know for nice things. One of them either wears his Italian leather loafers, or his Jordan sneakers during Mass. Initially I was thinking he was unique, and a bit silly. I’ve heard him mention on at least three separate occasions the importance of physical comfort in our lives. One time he was making a point about resisting sexual urges through other sensual pleasures like warm showers or comfortable clothes, which seems to have some merit.

But then as I was talking to Father Wayne after Mass a couple weeks ago I saw him putting his loafers into a felt bag.

Perhaps I’m biased because I take bad care of my things and I’m somewhat of a slob. But I had a real problem with these things until I read this passage. They seem to violate that priestly, ascetic, self-denying discipline that seems so integral to spiritual enlightenment.

But maybe not. Maybe, as Pope Francis is suggesting, we are meant to enjoy the good things of this world. We are indeed supposed to take pleasure at our beautiful homes, at delicious food, at interesting and marvelous animals. These are all good things! And they will never be bad things until we enjoy them in an inappropriate degree or manner.

Personally, I kind of like abusing myself with cold showers and no coffee, but there’s many ways to be a good Christian. Indeed, since we are all unique, there are billions of ways. But I’m glad this paragraph could reconcile my opinions of these men as holy, with some habits I saw as indulgent or decadent.

The second bit that really struck me was the mention of Jesus’s labor as a carpenter. When I read it I realized I’d never even considered it before. Because he’s so much more famous as the Son of God, I think we all forget that this guy was a real deal craftsman!

By most accounts Jesus started his ministry with the miracle at the wedding when he was about 30. I cannot imagine he started working later than 15. I’d be immensely surprised if he wasn’t helping Joseph by the age of 8 or 9.

Twenty years!? Twenty years! Isn’t that wild! The Son of God, the Eternal King of Kings, the Messiah! The Messiah! Spent twenty years as a wood worker, as a craftsman, making valuable, beautiful, useful things for the people of his community.

Jesus worked with his hands! Day in and day out he was making beds, stools, and chairs.

This still kind of flabbergasts me. But it really made me consider how discriminating I am with the tasks I perform. There are some things I do I find rather boring or routine. My classes right now are pretty interesting but I’ve felt it in the past and I think we all know the feeling.

We feel like we’re called to more, like this is a waste of our time and our talents. This work is meaningless, worthless. Does carpentry really compare to salvation?

Forgive any potential heresies in the following consideration. When Jesus came to earth as the SON OF GOD it’d be pretty reasonable that you wouldn’t waste the time of someone that important. But what does God the Father do? He makes him work twenty years as a carpenter before he gets to that whole salvation business. How did Jesus feel about that? About being delayed in his purpose, doing this relatively meaningless (no dig on carpentry but relatively, yeah, worthless) task for years on end.

He was fine with it. More than being fine with it, from every indication Jesus was grateful for everything he received from the Father. He probably relished the opportunity to craft wood just as God the Father had crafted the universe in the beginning. I think it’s no accident that Jesus was incarnated as a creator, an artisan, it runs in the family.

How can we apply that? Love what you’re doing. Not to say that you should stay in whatever job you have for the rest of your life, but thank God every day for the opportunity to do what you do. If you can’t be thankful for it, pray to be able to be thankful for it. If Jesus can make chairs for twenty years, you can do whatever stupid (apparently stupid, probably not actually) thing is in front of you right now.