Work, work, work!

Ah w*rk, the four letter word.

It didn't used to be so hard. Back in Eden (from what I hear) w*rk was like riding a bicycle - a little effort took you a long way. But when we broke the world with sin, the bicycle got a bent rim and now it takes a lot more effort to get anywhere.

I see it as each person's fair share of the effort it takes to live here in this broken world. Some people try to get around it by stealing from others. Some try to ensure their children won't have to do it by leaving a large trust fund. Some are disabled and can't do it and they live on government paychecks. Some could get a government paycheck but they have found a way to pull their own weight even though they are disabled. Some could do it but they got away with living on government paychecks anyway. Some can do it and they do, but very unwillingly and they complain about it every time you talk to them. But it has to be done by somebody, or everybody will starve to death.

Conversation a few years ago between me and a cow*rker:
EDDIE: "Man Isaac, I sure didn't want to come to w*rk today. I even talked to the good Lord about it."
ME: "That won't do no good man, God won't tell you something that goes against what the Bible says."
EDDIE: "Okay, what's the Bible say 'bout it?"
ME: "Well it says if a man doesn't w*rk, he doesn't eat."
EDDIE: "But I been working for thirty-five years!"
ME: "Yeah, and you been eating for thirty-five years. You wanna quit both of those now?"
EDDIE: "Man... Isaac... You're a hard man to talk to!"

Personally I seem to have a strong w*rk ethic. I stay busy when I am on the clock. This sometimes conflicts with my wallet, as my wallet keeps telling me I could be drawing certain tasks out a bit, but it just doesn't seem right.

I don't have much adjustment to make lately though. About half a month ago our store got bought by some guy in Nashville. Said guy proceeded to install more cameras and microphones, and I have it on good authority that he has a lot of screens all around his desk in his office and DOES pay attention. A lot of my cow*rkers are having to adapt to not checking their phones every five minutes and firing off text messages or facebook posts. Me? I haven't had to change anything.

Something else I should mention here. For w*rk ethic a lot of times motive is just as important as effort. Doing my job well just because I have to, or just because I would get fired if I didn't, or because the boss is watching, or even because "that's what good christians are supposed to do" doesn't cut it. If you do it because you have to, you get really resentful.

It's like everything else in the Bible. We do what is in the Bible, but if we do it just because it's a list of rules good little christians should follow then we can burn out real fast.

It's a shame that work (and life) has come to this. Next we are going to have to resort to school tactics and take their devices away when they come to work...

It's a shame that work (and life) has come to this. Next we are going to have to resort to school tactics and take their devices away when they come to work...

I am sitting at work and my thoughts are not focused. They wander off to CC, Whatsapp, Facebook when I know I should work and honoring God with good work ethics.

Do you honor God while working, or is it just an income? Is your work your calling? I would like how you all serve God at the workplace, whether you clean floors or sit in some high officem it is work and we should do so with a servants heart, right?

I know I am not honoring God right now, but I have kind of put my class to a task... they have to work individually. But still. Yes. I could have done some marking instead.

I am sitting at work and my thoughts are not focused. They wander off to CC, Whatsapp, Facebook when I know I should work and honoring God with good work ethics.

Do you honor God while working, or is it just an income? Is your work your calling? I would like how you all serve God at the workplace, whether you clean floors or sit in some high officem it is work and we should do so with a servants heart, right?

I know I am not honoring God right now, but I have kind of put my class to a task... they have to work individually. But still. Yes. I could have done some marking instead.

Well, I am thankful for my job. But most days, doing with a servants heart is farthest from my mind. I have those bouts of sarcasm, when I want to say "I'm a mechanic, not a magician. This is a wrench, not a wand". Maintenance is not what I went to school for. It kind of just fell in my lap, so it's what I do.

So are you A mechanic or Doing maintenance ???

I don't believe that the availability of distractions = problem

instead, I think the more fundamental problem, is how the human mind would be more than willing to wander, as if that's the nature of the human mind.

Some places they do that actually. When you clock in you give up your phone and they put it in the safe in the manager's office until you clock out. Kinda sad.

It is sad that work ethics have dropped so far that those policies have to be made. As smart phones became more prominent I found myself routinely having to threaten employees with cell phone banishment because of abuse.

It is sad that work ethics have dropped so far that those policies have to be made. As smart phones became more prominent I found myself routinely having to threaten employees with cell phone banishment because of abuse.