We are all called to Christian spirituality. Spirituality is not a monastic reality only. The contemplative must be down to earth. You need spirituality in your work. The need for spiritual nourishment goes with a dynamic, growing and changing relationship with God. You need to read scripture, do personal study, attend retreats and renewal experiences within small faith communities. Our spiritual life, our interior life, our very existence needs the life-giving element of prayer.
your work
Manual work versus wisdom (Sir 38:24-38:26)
“The wisdom of the scribe
Depends on the opportunity
Of leisure.
Only the one who has little business
Can become wise.
How can one become wise
Who handles the plow?
How can one become wise
Who glories in the shaft of a goad?
How can one become wise
Who drives oxen?
How can one become wise
Who is occupied with their work?
How can one become wise
Whose talk is about bulls?
He sets his heart on plowing furrows.
He is careful about fodder
For the heifers.”
Sirach recognizes that you cannot be a wise writer if you do not have leisure time. If you are doing business deals, you do not have time for wisdom. Most people were too busy with getting their oxen moving a plow, in the good old days before John Deere tractors. If you are occupied with your work in the fields, and taking care of bulls and heifers, how would you have any leisure time to be wise?
Give to others (Sir 14:15-14:19)
“Will you not leave
The fruit of your labors
To another?
What you acquired by toil
Is to be divided by lot.
Give!
Take!
Indulge yourself!
Because in Hades,
One cannot look for luxury.
All living beings become old
Like a garment.
The decree from of old is.
‘You must die!’
Like abundant leaves
On a spreading tree
That sheds some leaves,
But that puts forth others,
So are the generations
Of flesh and blood.
One dies.
Another is born.
Every work decays.
Every work ceases to exist.
The one who made it
Will pass away with it.”
After all is said and done, you will leave the results of your work to others either by chance or design. Thus give and take things. Indulge yourself, because you will not be able to enjoy luxuries after your death in Hades, the afterlife underworld. Everyone is like an old garment that is wearing out. Like leaves on a tree, some are falling off, while others are blooming. Life is full of people who are either dying and or being born. Every work decays and ceases to exist. So too will the person who made these things pass away.
Trust in the Lord (Sir 11:20-11:22)
“Stand by your agreement!
Attend to it! Grow old in your work! Do not wonder
At the works of a sinner! Trust in the Lord!
Keep at your job!
It is easy in the sight of the Lord
To suddenly make
The poor become rich,
In an instant.
The blessing of the Lord
Is the reward of the pious.
Quickly God causes his blessings to flourish.”
You should trust in the Lord. Keep and attend to your agreements. Grow old at your work. Stay at your job. Do not wonder about the works of sinners. The Lord can make a poor man rich instantaneously. The blessing of the Lord is the reward for the pious ones. He can make his blessings flourish.
Enjoy your wealth (Eccl 5:18-5:20)
“This is what I have seen to be good.
It is fitting is to eat and drink.
It is fitting to find enjoyment
In all the toil
With which one toils under the sun
The few days of the life
That God gives us.
This is our lot.
Likewise,
God gives wealth.
God gives possessions.
He enables them to enjoy them.
They should accept their lot.
They should find enjoyment
In their toil.
This is the gift of God.
They will scarcely brood
Over the days of their life
Because God keeps them occupied
With joy in their hearts.”
Qoheleth finally found something good. It was appropriate to eat and drink. You should find enjoyment in your work when you toil under the sun. God has given you a few days to enjoy all this. This is your lot in life, accept it. You may have wealth and possession, so enjoy them. Enjoy your work and any wealth that comes with it as a gift from God. Do not brood over the few days you have here on earth because God can keep you occupied with joy in your heart.
The role of humnas (Prov 16:1-16:4)
“The plans of the mind belong to mortals.
But the answer of the tongue is from Yahweh.
All one’s ways may be pure
In one’s own eyes.
But Yahweh weighs the spirit.
Commit your work to Yahweh.
Then your plans will be established.
Yahweh has made everything for its purpose,
Even the wicked for the day of trouble.”
Does God control everything? Humans have plans, but sometimes the answer of Yahweh is different. You may plan pure things in your own eyes, but Yahweh looks at the spirit. You have to commit your work to Yahweh so that he will then establish your plans. Yahweh has a purpose for everything, even the wicked are part of Yahweh’s plans.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 