Would you like fries with that? (Thoughts on Vocation Part 5)

"One day, a gentleman on a walk passed a construction site and inquired of the workers, 'What are you doing?' 'I'm breaking rock out of the quarry,' said one. Another replied, 'I'm in charge of making the mortar that will cement the stones.' A third man, caked in mud, was pushing a wheelbarrow, and he stopped just long enough to say, with a sense of proud delight, 'I'm building a cathedral." All three men were engaged in the same task, but only one had the 'big picture' in view. Apart from the transcendent (divine, vertical, theological) perspective, we can only see the details of daily routines. . .But when we begin to sign the composition of our daily scores with 'Soli Deo Gloria'--'To God Alone Be Glory'-- as did Bach, that can make even drudgery divine." Horton, Michael, Where in the World is the Church?" 159-60 (2000).

How would recapturing the doctrine of vocation affect the guy mopping the floors at McDonald's? Would understanding that he is loving his neighbor through his work give him more meaning and better perspective of the earthly and heavenly kingdoms? Lord, make us glad to serve in whatever work we are called to do.

* See archives for previous post on vocation.