My demeanor on Monday mornings is not what anyone would call "joyful"; I am up earlier than I want to be, getting ready to go to the classroom or office I would probably feel readier to face after a few more hours and cups of coffee. Even for the morning people among us, going to work can feel like serving a sentence. If you are fortunate, you might get time off for good behavior, but as David Rupert points out, even that option is increasingly less guaranteed. 

Do we have to see things this way? Are we doomed to feel trapped by our work? I think it is, like so much else, a question of perspective. How do we cultivate a conception of work that isn't just serving time, but serving a Kingdom?

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TRANSCRIPT: Why do we work? I think it gives context and meaning to a lot of our lives. There's something funny about work. I think people, for a long time, have felt that work is sort of an obligation or a duty that you have to do, but there's purpose to all of it. Often, it's a mysterious purpose, and it doesn't make a whole lot of sense every day. But, I think in relationships with people, the people you work with, your clients, what you're doing, the task you're doing, and whether you're doing it excellently, I think there's profound purpose in that. 

So, I think it's a matter of being self aware and reflecting on what you're doing and having a sense of mission and purpose. I think there's joy in work if you find what you really want to do.