Last week we celebrated “Colours For Missions Day”.  It was a wonderful experience where each grade came with a shirt or outfit that focused on one specific colour of the rainbow.  This day was the end product of the students doing jobs at home to earn money that they could bring along to be donated to various charities supported by the school throughout the year.  I watched with great joy as the children came out onto the playground in their specific areas with a mass of the one colour, however, it was really about the work they had done before this special day.  The work of the students to achieve such a wonderful result really highlights our christian vision for work.  Work too often is only viewed as valuable if it comes with long hard days of toil and late nights.  Our religious view of work celebrates humans being in harmony with the evolution of God’s creation. Work is good if it is friendly to creation. The work of the children to raise money for those in need is a perfect example of good work. Good work supports the earth, builds community and provides food and shelter for everyone. This is the message experienced by the children when they participated in Colours For Mission Day.

Have you ever considered your work as a parent  as an act of co-creation?  For example, in my work as a teacher I hope that my teaching endeavours extend the circle of wisdom, help people to develop a sense of purpose and enable students to realise their potential. Whatever work we do such as home care, bus driving, banking, farming, nursing etc; our work is sacred if it is done with a sense of contributing to the community and to the dignity of others.  Sadly, some individuals judge the value of work only in terms of its monetary value or its status on the social ladder.  I would like to think that this special occasion has given a different value to the meaning of work for the students.

Unless we promote a sacred and communal view of work which is accountable to the wellbeing of the earth community, we are doomed to experience work only as an economic function.

It would be my wish that the children see work as co-creation and that perhaps you have an opportunity to consider the message you give to your family about how you see your work.

Something to consider as the events of last week made me stop and view my own work through a different lens.

Go gently,