common hope

In 1974 a book was published, titled Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do. It was written by Pulitzer Prize-winning author, Studs Terkel. Terkel was a highly esteemed radio broadcaster who took about three years to conduct interviews with normal American workers, gathering vignettes for his book. He carefully and meticulously captured what it meant to be a common [American] person in the common [American] world, and attempted to outline the purpose of work.

Seward Hiltner, a prominent theologian at Princeton, quickly responded to Terkel’s book in the same year by writing a review in Theology Today. His review was interesting, in that it recognized a sort-of hopelessness in Terkel’s interviewees. Work was not viewed as valuable in itself, but as an impersonal, dehumanizing experience.

Fast-forward 37 years. Has much changed? How many times do we find ourselves dreading that alarm clock in the morning, wondering if we can call in sick today? How often does the topic of retirement come up in work conversations, as if it were a dreamy expectation? We surely struggle to find and experience the intrinsic value of work. This is common. This is our world.

As a Christian, it is my belief that God has something to say about this, and it may be more relevant and less cliche than what mainstream Christianity has to say. The goal of this blog site is to openly discuss and examine the broad topic of work and human purpose, asking God what he thinks. I believe his response is one that will provide hope, a common hope.