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Work as Worship of God

Jamál (Beauty), 7 Jamál (Beauty) 177 B.E. Sunday, May 3, 2020

"What does Sunday, the day of the Lord, mean for us? It is a day for rest and for family, but first of all a day for Him."
Pope Benedict XVI

For me Sunday is Jamál, the day of Beauty, and--like every other day of the week--is dedicated to the All-Glorious Lord because Jamál is a divine attribute. When I was growing up, Sunday was the day dedicated to church services and spiritual pursuits, while for some of my friends (who either weren't Christians or Southern Baptist) Saturday was a day to pursue the spiritual. I never could understand why one day of the week had to be dedicated to God and the other days to material pursuits. It seemed to me, that every day a person should make room for God in their lives.

Beautiful Sunday
Memories of Sunday school
Grandpa saying grace at meals

"It is enjoined upon every one of you to engage in some form of occupation, such as crafts, trades and the like. We have graciously exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship unto God, the True One. Ponder ye in your hearts the grace and the blessings of God and render thanks unto Him at eventide and at dawn. Waste not your time in idleness and sloth. Occupy yourselves with that which profiteth yourselves and others."/i}

Baha’u’llah1

Coming together as a community builds fellowship and love. This is one aspect of worship. Another aspect is service to humanity. Service to humanity is a daily act of worship. This is something that I wasn't taught has a child. I grew up believing that you worshiped God one day a week and the rest you spent working or taking care of personal business, but this isn't so. I no longer feel this way, I now know that work, performed with the proper attitude, is worship of God.

Footnotes
1  Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 26.