Page 126 - Through New Eyes

Breaking Bread: The Rite of Transformation 121
probably won’t rename it, but my mind will recognize that
“empty glass” has become “filled glass.”
3. I distribute the glass of water to you, and I may say, “Drink
up.”
4. You evaluate the water. It might taste bad if the faucet had
not been used for a week and 1 failed to run the water out
of the pipe first, or it might taste fine.
5. Assuming your judgment is that the water is good, you en-
joy it by drinking more of it.

Such simple, mundane actions constantly and unavoidably
imitate God’s actions in the building of the world. Every calling
in life, indeed every action in life, thus has immeasurable dignity.

The Six-Fold Pattern of Man’s Work
Because all men, Christian and apostate, thus constantly im-
itate God in their work, it cannot be in the area of works that the
final distinction between the righteous and the wicked is found.
Rather, it is the attitude or faith that accompanies these works
that makes the difference. In the truest Biblical sense of the
word, this attitude is “piety,” the religious sense that accompanies
our actions. This requirement of right faith or piety is set out in
Genesis 2 and 3, and is seen in that God required an additional
step in the performance by man of this sequence of actions. That
additional step is the giving of thanks, a conscious act of self-
submission to God, affirming that He is the One who set up the
conditions for human labor, and affirming that He does all
things well. The act of thanksgiving is placed immediately after
the first step of “taking hold,” before the act of “restructuring.”
While all our actions are to be pervaded by a spirit of thanks, an
act of thanks is at least sometimes to be performed at this point
in the sequence.
What is thanksgiving? It is a rendering of praise and an affir-
mation of dependence upon someone else. A person does not
thank himself— that would be absurd. Thus, God did not thank
Himself when He made the world. When, however, I thank you
for something, I am acknowledging that you have done some-
thing for me (acknowledging dependence) and expressing gra-
titude (not resentment).