As I continue to reflect on the unemployment in America, I’m forced to think of what we are missing in the biblical message. Yesterday I learned about a small Christian community that was gifted with the worst lands on the island of Bali, Indonesia. Within a relatively short time, they became the highest producing community in Indonesia and received national recognition for their hard work. At high school graduations, students were told, “Don’t go find a job–go create a job!”
I wonder where the “niches” are in our society that need jobs . . . but is anyone looking?
God knows that this mindset has been terribly lost in our generations. We have failed to become a people who find dignity in work and dignity in contributing to a creative work that brings benefit for all humanity; instead we have largely accepted the lie that it is acceptable to take any job or to manipulate circumstances in any way to receive the most money possible with making the least amount of effort. But is this truly satisfying?
Ecclesiastes 5:12 says: “People who work hard sleep well, whether they eat little or much. But the rich seldom get a good night’s sleep.” Seems true to me.
Pope John Paul II says: “Each man and woman has their own place in God’s heart and . . . [a] personal and irreplaceable contribution to the progress of humanity on the path of justice and truth.”
Are you fulfilling your unique contribution? Am I? Are we?
-Tim C. Williams
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