A blessed workers' day - the joy and struggle of work, and the greater good

A blessed workers' day to all those who have the privilege to work, for those who long to work, for those who find joy in their work, and for those whose work brings life. Blessings to those who work to survive, to those who are faithful in spite of struggle or hardship. Blessing to the workers and work seekers. May our work make the world a better place. May we commit our creativity, energy and our time to the work of justice, peace and love, and may it be seen in the things we do and make.

"What we would like to do is change the world--make it a little simpler for people to feed, clothe, and shelter themselves as God intended them to do. And, by fighting for better conditions, by crying out unceasingly for the rights of the workers, the poor, of the destitute--the rights of the worthy and the unworthy poor, in other words--we can, to a certain extent, change the world; we can work for the oasis, the little cell of joy and peace in a harried world. We can throw our pebble in the pond and be confident that its ever widening circle will reach around the world. We repeat, there is nothing we can do but love, and, dear God, please enlarge our hearts to love each other, to love our neighbor, to love our enemy as our friend"

- Dorothy Day, Founder of the Catholic Worker Movement.

Beautiful people, wonderful snow, and learning to read the story of Jesus

Yesterday I arrived in Arnoldshain just outside of Frankfurt, Germany. I am staying at Martin Niemöller Haus to speak at a conference on faith and work in a digital age hosted by the Evangelische Akademie Frankfurt.

It has been such a stimulating and challenging engagement so far. Prof Torsten Meireis (from Bern Switzerland) and I presented our papers last night.

I spoke about the importance of recapturing the notion of calling and vocation in work life. Luther insisted that God calls every person into the world daily. Up to the point of the Reformation the understanding was that God only called a few persons, such as nuns and monks, and that they were called to 'leave' the world behind. However after the Reformation the vita activa becomes as important for faithful Christian living as the vita contemplativa. The challenge is that slowly and subtly our attention turned from calling to vocation ('roeping tot beroep'). So we formed identity in our vocation - being the parent, being the teacher, being the worker. The notion of vocation is based on 1 Cor 7.20, we are to be faithful to God first. Our work is to be a means to that end, and not the end in itself. The following quote, translated from Prof Dirkie Smit's reflections on calling captures what I said:

God calls everybody, not only a select few, [according to Luther] and God calls them with a spiritual calling, and this spiritual calling is not a calling out of everyday life, rather it comes by way of everyday life, through the place and task in which persons find themselves. That is where they are called to be faithful and to honour God.  (own translation from Smit, 2003:9*)

By the way, the conference and proceedings are being done in German. ha ha! I managed my way through the presentations and the question and answer section with my very basic German! I learnt how to read French and German when I was busy with my graduate studies and did some work on Karl Rahner (in German) and Henri Le Saux (in French). But spoken German is an entirely different thing! My thanks to the participants for their patience!

It was wonderful to make new friends, Dr Gotlind Ulshöfer, Dr Brigitte Bertelmann and Dr Konstantin Broese among others. Such wonderful people!

The snow is lying thick on the ground! I tackled my jet lag yesterday by going for a beautiful walk in the forest in the afternoon. It was an act of 'holy leisure'.

Well, it is time to continue with the conference today, here is a quote that I came across that that may offer an invitation to a new way of reflecting on the story of Jesus:

When we learn to read the story of Jesus and see it as the story of the love of God, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves–that insight produces, again and again, a sense of astonished gratitude which is very near the heart of authentic Christian experience.

N.T. Wright

*2003. 6 Riglyne vir prediking oor Christelike roeping. Burger, C., Müller, B. & Smit, D.J. (eds.). Wellington: Lux Verbi

Where to buy a copy of our book 'Transform your work life'

This week I have had the privilege and joy of preaching a series of services in the Dutch Reformed Church, Helderberg Congregation.  It is a vibrant mega-Church with a deep commitment to spirituality, evangelism, mission and social action.  Truly a wonderful group of people and a great model of a well functioning large Church.

The topic I was invited to speak on this week was 'Monday Morning Atheist?' Basically, we have discussed the tendency among many contemporary Christians to operate as 'functional atheists' outside of the time they spend in gathered worship.  Simply stated, one way of speak of an an atheist is as someone who lives as if God doesn't exist or matter in their life.  Many Christians are functional atheists when it comes to their work place, their community life, and in fact most aspects of their life outside of the times and geographical spaces associated with the gathered Christian community.

We have discussed different ways of remaining Christian, and being the Church even when we 'scatter' into the world (particularly the world of work).

Many persons have asked where they can get hold of copies of the book that I wrote with Graham entitled 'Transform your work life'.

If you want a physical (paper!) copy of the book you can order it from Loot in South Africa, or from Amazon in the USA (the US edition has a slightly different cover, so don't be surprised!), or from Cannaan Land in Malaysia.

Of course the easiest is to get a Kindle Copy to your smart phone, table or computer by ordering it here.

Rich blessing,

Dion

Faith and work in South Africa - Do Churches adequately care for their members?

Does the Church in South Africa adequately support members for their daily work life?

My most recently published research discusses this question and shares some statistical data gained from the broadest and most recent empirical research on faith and work in South Africa.

The article is entities 'Called to work: A descriptive analysis of Call42's research on faith and work in South Africa'. You can read, or download, a copy of the research article here: http://koersjournal.org.za/index.php/koers/article/view/2143

Here is the abstract for the article:

Very little empirical research has been conducted into faith and work, particularly as it relates to the experience and expectations of Christians in the world of work in South Africa. This article discusses the most recent research of this kind that was conducted by Call42. Call42 conducted an empirical research project on faith, calling, and the world of work between 2011 and 2012. The findings were released to the public after July 2012. Not only is this the most up to date data on this subject at present; the research findings and research process are also worthy of academic consideration. The Call42 research was initiated and commissioned by a group of young Christian professionals (mainly engineers) and as such it brings a perspective on faith and work from within the primary context of the world of work, rather than the theological academy or the church. The findings of the research have implications for the church and its officers (priests, pastors and leaders). It also arrives at some conclusions for Christians in the world of work, students who are contemplating a vocation or career path, and companies and organisations that have an explicit or implicit Christian orientation.