Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.
-- Colossians 3:23-24 (ESV)
John Chrysostom, Homily 10 on Colossians:
He desires to have them freed not only from hypocrisy, but also from slothfulness. He hath made them instead of slaves free, when they need not the superintendence of their master; for the expression "heartily" means this, "with good will," not with a slavish necessity, but with freedom, and of choice.
C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory:
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations--these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
Chrysostom presses the point home: the one who works "heartily" is not performing for an earthly audience. The Greek *ek psychēs* -- from the soul -- describes labor that is free, chosen, offered. A man who lays brick, reviews drawings, or drives a nail as unto the Lord has turned mundane labor into priestly offering. The master may never see the quality of the work. Christ always does.
Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ:
Perfect contempt of the world, a lively desire to advance in virtue, a love for discipline, the works of penance, readiness to obey, self-denial, and the endurance of every hardship for the love of Christ, these will give a man great expectations of a happy death. You can do many good works when in good health; what can you do when you are ill?
When no one is watching -- no superintendent, no client, no foreman -- does the quality of your work change? And if it does, whom are you really serving?
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book X:
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
St. Clair, MI -- Monday, July 20
Patchy smoke after 11am. Mostly sunny, high near 81°F. South wind 0 to 12 mph with gusts to 20. Tonight: mostly cloudy, low around 67°F, with showers and thunderstorms moving in after midnight -- 80% chance of precipitation. SSW winds 7 to 13 mph, gusts to 23.