Session 1: The Nature of Work

Opening Questions:
What is the nature of work?  Is it something good, bad, a mixture?
What's the worst job you've ever had?  The best?
Why work?  (Money, reputation, something to do...)

Film Clip: The Devil Wears Prada
In this clip, Meryl Streep plays Miranda, a pompous fashion exec who is very demanding of her personal assistant, Andrea (played by Anne Hathaway).  In their car ride, they are talking about the sacrifices and ruthlessness of their work.  Andrea says, "I could never do something like that."  Miranda replies, "You already have," referring to how she got to go to Paris, where they are now.  At one point, Andrea asks, "What if this isn't what I want?"  Miranda says, "Everybody wants this."  Is this true?  Are we able to walk away from a job that has taken over our life?  What else strikes you about this clip? 



Film Clip: Office Space
Contrary to a job that means everything, there is the flipside: a job that means nothing to you.  Here we find Peter deciding not to quit his job, but simply not come in to work because he doesn't care anymore.  What is our incentive to work?  Money?  Stock options?  Something meaningful?  Something that will improve the world or help people? (mild profanity)



Scripture
We also looked at Scripture to see what God has to say about the nature of work.  We find out in Gen. 1:28 that we are to 'subdue' the earth, or 'hold sway' - this certainly sounds like work.  Then in Gen 3:17-19 we read that Adam is cursed with toiling in the dust... that doesn't sound too appealing!  We then get the division of labor in Gen 4 with Abel (pastoralist) and Cain (farmer), with slavery in Exodus not too far behind!

But we mainly focused on this passage from Ecclesiastes 5:18-20:

18 "This is what I have seen to be good: it is fitting to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun the few days of the life God gives us; for this is our lot. 19Likewise all to whom God gives wealth and possessions and whom he enables to enjoy them, and to accept their lot and find enjoyment in their toil—this is the gift of God. 20For they will scarcely brood over the days of their lives, because God keeps them occupied with the joy of their hearts."

So we read that it is good to eat, drink and work, and rather than be occupied with the toil, stress or money that work may entail, we are filled with joy as we work for God.  Work is a gift from God, which is sometimes hard to remember. 

What else do you find comforting or challenging about this passage?