"A cosmological perspective on work can show us that all creatures in the universe have work — the galaxies and stars, trees and dolphins, grass and mountain goats, forests and clouds, chickens and elephants— all are working. The only ones out of work are human beings. The very fact that our species has invented unemployment ought to give us pause.
"Unemployment is not natural to the universe; it contradicts cosmic laws. It is also not healthy. That we settle for unemployment, especially when there is so much good work to be done, points up the fact that we do not live in a healthy world. By undergoing an awakening in cosmology — an awakening to the sense of the whole — we can bring about an awakening of our imaginations, which will, in turn, free us to reinvent work, create good work, cease compulsive and addictive work, and create possibilities of work for others.
"What is this fruit that we bear? 'The fruit is of good size. It is no less nor more than God's self.' The fruit of our work is the bringing forth of Divinity. How often do we engage in such divine birthing? Is it once in a lifetime? Hardly. According to Eckhart, this work is more common than we imagine. 'Every day the soul bears fruit a hundred times or a thousand times to countless times, giving birth and becoming fruitful out of the most noble foundation of all.' This 'noble foundation' is the key to all our work, the source and origin of it all. Once again we see why returning to our origins is so important for authentic work. For here is the origin of the divine Word as well. 'Indeed, the soul bears out of the same foundation from which the Father begets his eternal Word.' There is only one work in the universe because there is only one origin, one foundation."
