By David Whitmarsh
Have you ever wondered what Adam and Eve were doing in the Garden, before the fall? My favorite answer is ‘tending the Garden’!
Work in The Garden
Genesis walks us quite beautifully through their days in the Garden. God, who spent all of time before man, creating everything else – finally created man, in His image.
One way to understand that image is in the very act of creation itself. We were made little creators, in the image of The Creator (Gen 1:27). Adam and Eve were creators before the fall, so what were they doing? They were working.
We know this further because in Genesis 2:15, God settled man in the Garden to cultivate and care for it. Sounds cozy! God even tasked man with scientific classification (Gen 2:20). The change between a life of fulfilling work and a toilsome ‘daily grind’ occurs when sin enters the story. Sin does not beget work; it ushers in the era of laborious drudgery.
Work in Heaven
Additionally, we know what the world will look like after Christ’s return from the visions of the Prophet Isaiah. He saw that Nations “shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks” (Isa 2:4).
Note the implications here that when the Kingdom is fulfilled, yes there will be peace, but there is also imagery of tools being used for work. In new ways which we will only fully comprehend when we get there, we will still participate in the creative and redemptive work of God in Heaven!
Work on Earth
Even with eyes toward Heaven, we still have work to do here.
Today there are real challenges opposing the Catholic way of life politically, socially and economically. We can’t all go work for the Church and not everyone is called to entrepreneurship. The side-gig is having its moment, but we need a more permanent solution to this problem.
So how does a modern Catholic find gainful and holy employment? By the ancient spiritual practice of Discerning God’s Will.
Just like a seminarian discerns the priesthood, the lay Catholic worker is called to discern God’s will for how our work can feed our families and glorify Him at the same time. Discernment is rigorous, but it leads to growth, adventure and joy!
Catholic Career Discernment
Discernment of God’s Will for one’s career is rigorous because you cannot fake the work. The steps usually follow a pattern similar to this (with suggested Saints)
- Take an honest inventory of your life (St. Augustine)
- Collapse into Divine Mercy (St. Faustina)
- Get serious about prayer (St. Ignatius)
- Marinate in God’s Word during the trials of life (St. Gregory)
- Be open to new people, ideas and opportunities (St. Francis)
- Be not afraid (St. Pope John Paul II)
Discernment leads to joy in the end, because fully adhering to God’s will brings the fulfillment of all human desire. God’s dreams for us are higher than ours are for ourselves.
From the wisdom of EWTN's Mother Angelica, “The greatest work is not the kind that changes things but the kind that changes people.”
Catholic career discernment is intrinsically tied to the spiritual life. It’s the process of awakening the whole self to God’s brightest and wildest dreams for you. When the whole person is fed and alive, work starts to feel like creative play.
Could we all dare to believe God’s greatest dreams for us?
David Whitmarsh is one of Tepeyac Leadership's new Career Progression Advisors. Contact him at david@holyworkmovement.com
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