Let’s face it. Not everything that we do is very exciting and glorious. Some things are downright drudgery and just not fun. It is hard to feel like we are doing anything very worthwhile when we engage in such tasks. And I’m not just talking about things that wear us down physically; what prompts this post is that I’m currently reading page proofs of the third edition of my 1500 page co-authored treatise on employee benefits litigation. (I’m guessing I don’t need to point out that it is not fun.)
Gerard Manley Hopkins said something that is very useful when we are feeling this way. He wrote:
“It is not only prayer that gives God glory but work. Smiting on an anvil, sawing a beam, whitewashing a wall, driving horses, sweeping, scouring, everything gives God glory if being in his grace you do it as your duty. To go to Communion worthily gives God great glory, but a man with a dung fork in his hand, a woman with a slop pail, give him glory too. He is so great that all things give him glory if you mean they should.”
I’m guessing Hopkins would say that even reading page proofs of an employee benefits treatise can give God glory. It takes some work for me to view it in that way….but I’m trying.
Creo en Dios! 