In my recent discussion about Joy and Work and, especially the ideas proposed by Dennis Bakke in his book, “Joy at Work“, one of my readers (Holger) questioned if work came as a result of the fall. Moreover, this reader suggested that most of us rarely display our creativity at our jobs. Bakke himself pointed out that work was right there at the dawn of creation. Man was charged with tending the garden right at the beginning, prior to the fall. After the fall, though, the toil and grind of work entered into man’s experience. Rather, it was thorns and thistles became the result of man’s toil rather than fruits and everything for food from the ground.

So, both the meaning and the result of man’s labor became troublesome after the fall. However, work was supposed to be glorious, God-honoring and God-pleasing. According to the plan at creation, man was supposed to work for his nourishment and enjoyment. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: work, work as play, joy, passion, square peg round hole

Here are some of the new things I have picked up recently:

Golf. I bought my first set of golf clubs two weeks ago and went to the driving range with a couple of friends. I even skipped church last Sunday to attend my first golf lesson from a “Pro”. All this because I found out that I was supposed to play golf with our management, along with executives from a vendor, at work. Hope I end up being able to hit the ball, hit it straight and not waste other people’s time on the course! What I have learned, though, is that golfing is a matter of body motion and not so much arm motion or strength. It has to do with posture, mindset and flow. No wonder so many life coaches, motivational speakers and preachers like to use golf in their illustrations. I have found that there are many lessons that one can apply to life from learning and playing golf. Read the rest of this entry »

Recently, I came across Parableman Jeremy Pierce’s short post on joy - a quality usually associated with expressions of happiness and pleasure. But, Jeremy pointed out, it need not be that or else we won’t have joy while we go through some decidedly unpleasant experiences.

As a person who have sunk deep into depression, yet who was quietly confident in God’s providence and His sovereignty over our experiences, I resonate very much to the idea. (For a while back then I used to tell people that I felt like I was hanging from a clifftop by my finger nails, but at the same time I also had the quiet confidence that underneath me were God’s everlasting arms.) Being depressed on the surface, seems contradictory to the concept of having “joy in the Spirit”. When I was “down in the dumps”, I would recall such Biblical passages as Philippians 4:4 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!” During those times, I would embrace my situation, my emotions, and my relationship with God. I would sigh and groan in prayers, and would take on the attitude of waiting on God. Also I am often reminded that Paul speaks about joy in the context of his own suffering. For example, we read of him and Silas singing hymns to God in the dank, damp, darkness and discomfort of the dungeon-jail at Philippi. Read the rest of this entry »

Technorati Tags: joy, depression, happiness, sadness

The fourth annual Faith and Business Forum was held this past week, and it showcased Dennis Bakke, author of Joy at Work: A Revolutionary Approach To Fun on the Job. Bakke started AES, a global power company, serving as CEO and President for a number of years.

Bakke suggests that work is God’s primary vocation for man. Being made in the image of God, we are all called to be co-creators with God to fulfill our calling at work. This means that there is no separation between sacred work or spiritual work. Work is not meant to be something we do just to bring in the material resources to enable us to do sacred work.

According to Bakke, Christians tend to think that sacred work is the primary commission. That since Jesus left the church with the Great Commission, doing “the work of God” becomes our primary calling. Therefore, apparently, we are led to believe that we are to be busy with sacred ministry and our “secular” occupations merely serve primarily to put a roof over our heads, feed our families and us to enable us to support sacred ministry and spend time volunteering in such ministries as well. Read the rest of this entry »