Dig-Digger

I heard about an interesting study tonight that was performed to prove that the chief reason people choose to work is not to make money as much as it is to find some sort of fulfillment or purpose in what they are doing.

A study done by Berkeley in the 60's aimed to prove this by employing a large number of
people to dig ditches all day for the going rate of about $5/hr. Since unemployment was high, they were able to employ a number of people to participate in the study.

On the first day, they were told to dig a deep ditch but after it was finished they were then told to fill it in. When questioned about the purpose of this exercise in futility they were told that it was part of a research project. Everyone was paid at the end of the day and asked to show up to work the next day.

The next day 40% of the workers failed to show up. As a result, everyones wages were doubled and they were asked to peform the same task. Again they were told to fill in the ditch after spending all day digging it and again they were paid at the end of the day and asked to return the next day. This time they were told that they would be paid an hourly rate 3 times what they earned the first day.

The next day an additional 40% of the workers failed to show up even though they had been promised wages far higher than the rest of the job market at that time. Amazing isn't it? The fact that their high pay was not enough to keep them on the job shows that purpose trumps pay more often than not. We were made FOR SOMETHING and even when we don't know what that something is...no amount of money will cause us to give up the idea that IT is real.

Infancy

You are most high and You do not change.
Nor does "today" ever come to a close for You.
Yet because of You each day does come to a close for us.
The day finds its closing in You, for it has no way to end unless you uphold that ending.And since Your own years never come to an end, all of Your years are one "today".
How many or our years and our father's years flow through Your "today"?Your present is the measure and mold for each of our succeeding moments.
many moments flow by, and each will have the mark of Your mold of being.
And through all things tommorow, You are still the same.
Beyond and behind all yesterdays, You stand. All has been done during Your Today.
-St. Augustine from The Confessions of St. Augustine

Confessions of the Greatness of God

You are matchless,O Lord.
So our praise of you must rise above our humanity.
Magnificent is Your power.
Your wisdom has no limits.
And we lowly creatures aspire to praise You.
What is a human being, but a tiny particle of Your creation?
Each human carries within the mark of a coming death.
That mortality bears witness to human sinfulness.
It declares to all the You rebuff the proud.
Yet despite our lowness, human beings aspire to praise You, though we be a particle of Your creation.
You awake in us a delight at praising You. You made us for Yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds its place of rest in You.
-St. Augustine