The evolution of Adam - Work, work and more work... did I say work?
In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground;
Chilling words we find in Genesis 3:19... but scientifically accurate.
It has been discovered, measured and proved that work is an integral part of this physical universe in which we live.
By Unknown - Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. 231, August, 1869., Public Domain
There is no perpetual motion machine and energy cannot be created out of nothing.Scientifically there is no free lunch. Something has to do the work or someone has to pay.
Energy is always conserved.
Add to that, the effects of increasing entropy in this fallen world, where everything tends to fall apart, and it becomes a tough place to live, if one is not prepared to work.
Work is an absolute necessity, not only for survival but also to prosper. Some may get away with less work, but that generally comes at the expense of others.
It's because of this that life, for most of us, is tough... and its meant to be tough... We should not weep and wail and gnash our teeth, in fits of depression, every time things don't go according to plan.
There is no gain without the pain. I have heard people complain that if God is so powerful why doesn't he remove all suffering and prevent all evil?
That would be counter to the program and why we were introduced to this fallen world in the first place. As found in the Book of Mormon, a prophet explained to his son:
Nephi 2:11 For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, my firstborn in the wilderness, righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. Wherefore, all things must needs be a compound in one; wherefore, if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead, having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility.
Without opposites we would not be able to gain any sort of experience, to have lived. We must taste the bitter in order to truly appreciate the sweet. For every action there must be an equal and opposite reaction.
It is on the basis of this law that we either "act or are acted upon".
Work is how we act and the more we act or are proactive about things the more likely we will be able to provide for ourselves and be successful during our turn here on earth, where this fallen world throws everything it has at us.
Once we overcome we will emerge stronger and more rounded out for the experience. This is the purpose of living. Its in enduring well the tough times that character is built, and we are here to build character.
Any improvement we would have for ourselves, as the descendants of Adam, will come to us on the same basis...
"in the sweat of our face"
Previous parts of this Series.
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Where do these notions originate?
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Delving a little deeper
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Into the detail
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Some conclusions
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Some more conclusions
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - The implications.
The evolution of Adam - a conundrum
The evolution of Adam - Who is Adam
The evolution of Adam - Two trees and choice
The evolution of Adam - Partaking of the fruit and feeling naked
The evolution of Adam - Was there death before Adam
The evolution of Adam - The biological purpose of death.
The evolution of Adam - The need for a Redeemer
The evolution of Adam - Inheritance and Redemption
The evolution of Adam - The dust of the ground
The evolution of Adam - flesh and blood and flesh and bone.
The evolution of Adam - a debt of blood and ghosts
The evolution of Adam - the lesser understood spirit within us all.
The evolution of Adam - Entropy and Eden.
The evolution of Adam - Sin and Entropy
Great post once again @gavvet. I agree with you.
I like that you mentioned "Some may get away with less work, but that generally comes at the expense of others"
Whatever kind of work you do–whether you’re self-employed, working for someone else, or something in between–if autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward are present, it’s my belief you have a much better chance of making your work meaningful.
And if you can find meaning in your work, you’re well on your way to being the best possible version of yourself.
I always appreciate a scientific take on scripture. In today's world smaller minds seem to think the two cannot coexist. All of the greatest men of science had religion in the past. Today it is still a good number of scientific minds who are so led but I worry that our sciences are paid for by governments and religion is burned away from young minds in the cauldrons of colleges who give no real guidance. Not the words you say, but the enlightened perspective from which you see, gives me a little hope. Thanx!
https://steemit.com/science/@kickassfacts/25-kickass-and-amazing-facts-about-dreams
If they try to take the faith out of the mind you'll always have people who know the truth and will tell it to other people. It's not possible to kill christian faith. Different government often tried it in many ways, but always failed. They burned themselves many times by trying to fight the faith. And they will fail in future too.
Where did we read about science in this article? Is seems to me it's more related to natural law and the ecosystem.
You are not seeing the laws of thermodynamics here? Natural Law is science, despite what some more modern scientists may label that term.
The conglomeration of science and religion is incredibly interesting. It puts a more logical look on religion that many people might appreciate. Especially those who struggle to see the reason behind religion.
I have to say I agree with the concept that one has to work for what you want in life. Not only is that necessary for survival but it is also important for one's self image. Instant gratification also removes the sense of accomplishment that comes from working towards goals.
Maybe you can discuss Millennials and some of the issues they may come across as they reach adulthood and how to work through them.
Opposition is the basis of the meaning of life.
In a utopian world, the decline comes at a time, because the equilibrium does not exist.
In the world we live in, the valuation of an action is done by the difficulty it provides. The easier we have the less we apreciate the result.
The very conception of the value of life depends on the opposition between good and evil. Thank you for that thought ^^
I totally agree with you, no free lunch anywhere, even in Freetown, you must work in order to eat
awesome dear! please upvote and comment my post!
But then, too much work is bad, we should remember the basics, the body itself needs rest....
Human parts are not manufactured in a factory!
2 Nephi 2. Possibly my favorite chapter! Good to see it on steemit!
One of mine too.
I always feel best when I am kept busiest. The burning of energy makes the refueling that much more enjoyable. Definitely an integral part of life!
Awesome. I love the part where you said:
'we must taste the bitter to appreciate the sweer'
If you notice, you'll find out that the you enjoy a reward better when you work for it. There is thus added satisfaction you get when you work for your reward. I believe God put it there in us. You'll appreciate an outcome better when you worked for it. It makes you see the true value of that thing.
God did not make work to kill us, but to instill in us the discipline and diligence that work produces, making you, people, and mankind as a whole better people,an in turn making this world a better place.
Exactly God did not give us work to kill us. I believe work is a good thing however I do not think we are supposed to all be depressed and miserable or on the border of suicide from our jobs.
Well said. You made an important point here. I believe people commiting suicide because of their work is a very unfortunate situation. Another thing I've noticed is that Historically, suicide rates do rise during economic downturns. The entire population is still usually experiencing the downstream effects of economic recession, coupled with the pressure from the office, and all these lead to mental stress, and then suicide.
We pray God helps us to see work as a training ground - a blessing.
God did not curse work, but rather He caused the ground. Work is a noble task. Even God works.
Thanks so much for your feed back.
Work saves us from three great evils: boredom, vice, need. So you are absolutely right work - it's energy and energy is life.
There is something to be said from succeeding through hard work. One can also make a valid argument that when people are just "given" something that they don't appreciate it as much. Whether it is through procurement of your families food, building a home or in modern times working to bring home a paycheck, there are no free rides, there is and will always be a cost for everything.
On that note, (this might be a little off subject) this idea might be changing in the future with the advent of AI. When robots start replacing humans in all industries there is a chance that we could become obsolete. there is also a chance that we could live longer more leisurely lives because we no longer have the need to perform menial tasks. What are your thoughts on this?
Many though technological revolutions of the past would render jobs obsolete but in those scenarios the nature of work just changed and new jobs emerged.