Ora et labora

Yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous and unseasonably warm (78 degrees in November!) day. When I got home from work, I noticed that the yard, deck, and driveway were covered with leaves, so I changed clothes, brought the dog outside with me, and grabbed a rake.

As I raked, I was mindful of the gift that work is. My husband and I are currently involved in a Bible study that focuses on financial stewardship, and the past week's study was about work. One of the verses in the study was Genesis 2:15 -- "The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." The principle in the lesson was that God created work before sin entered into the world. Work is made difficult by sin, but work itself is not a punishment for sin.

In the spirit of that verse, and in the spirit of stewardship (all that we have belongs to God and we are temporary caretakers of His gifts), I began to be thankful for the gift of strength and ability to do manual labor. I was thankful for the ability to care for the home that my husband and I share. I was thankful for the amusement of watching our silly dog bound ecstatically through the leaf piles.

I worked and thought on a Benedictine motto: "Ora et labora" (pray and work). Both essential elements of the Christian life, they felt to me artificially separated by the "and". A twist on the motto sprang to mind: "Labora est ora" (work is prayer). If our work is for God, as Paul states in the Epistles, then it is, indeed, prayer and not punishment.