Find satisfaction in all [your] toil—
this is the gift of God.
—Ecclesiastes 3:13
A Cockney gardener was proudly showing a clergyman his magnificent flowers. Becoming irritated with the cleric’s giving God all the praise and the hard-working gardener no credit, he said, “You should ’ave seen this ’ere garden when Gawd ’ad it to ’isself!” His ego may have been a bit brittle, but his theology was spot-on.
God chose to put Adam in the garden of Eden “to work it and take care of it” (Gn 2:15). Work becomes a privilege when we see it as collaboration with God.
There’s a distinction between nature and culture. Nature is what God gives us; culture is what we make of it (agriculture, horticulture, etc.). Nature is raw materials; culture is products prepared for sale and consumption. Nature is divine creation; culture is human cultivation.
Find more pleasure than pain in your work.