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Re: not letting them define us

Shannon Lewis wrote:
>I guess I hold much more to the Puritan's view of world --
>your work is your calling and is done as an act of worship
>to God.  If God is God and God is sovereign, then all of 
>the circumstances of your life ultimate reflect his hand 
>at work, either as a first cause or a secondary cause;  
>either permissively or as part of his over-arching plan of 
>what He plans on doing with you.  Looking at Genesis one 
>recognizes (whether one sees this as history or myth) that
>only "toil" is a result of the fall -- we were placed here
>(yes, "our purpose") to "work the garden".  So, in a sense,
>though it is not ALL that we are, we are still in large 
>part defined by our work -- and work is not bad -- work is
>an act of worship.  I realize a great many of you are not 
>"believers", but for those of you that are, I challenge you
>to take a closer look at how you percieve your work, and 
>"do everything you do as unto the Lord."

true.  i guess i just chose the "tongue-in-cheek" response.

while i agree that christians are called to glorify/worship
in all that we do, i still don't like the concept of letting
our vocations define who we are in such a strong way.  i try
to do all that i do in a way that glorifies god, and i know 
i am doing what i am doing because of his guiding.  i really
don't see accounting as a "calling," though.  i see it as
something that i have been given a talent in.  hopefully i 
am using it to glorify god, but regardless, there are other 
things in my life that the lord has given to me that i feel 
are far more important than work.

i know many people view their jobs as callings, and that is
wonderful.  in some cases, i see how it is a calling for them.
i guess i'm just trying to say that i don't see mine as that
direct of a thing.  maybe if i did accounting for a missions
board, or something.  but simply put, i just don't view it as
a calling today.  maybe my heart will change.

my job is a *part* of who i am.  a small part.  that's all
i'm really trying to say.  the crux of my argument, as it
were.

for the record, i haven't even minded the thread.  it's cool
to see what everybody *does*.

other important parts in my life include friends, omelets,
family, music, tortillas, working with kids at church,
enjoying nature, frisbee golf, art/museums, draft cider, 
studying, biking, and penn station.  oh, that wasn't in any
particular order- penn station is higher up on the list.

Dan

np: busta rhymes - when disaster strikes


+-  Dan Temmesfeld     Galactic Cowboys on the Web  -+
    dantemm at erinet_com      http://www.dlm.net/gc/
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+-more & more, i'm secretly just me (over the rhine)-+
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