Work and Hope

Dr. Bahaa Helmy Writes

Work and hope are among the sublime religious principles. The heavenly books urge man to work with mastery and honesty and to earn his living through diligence and good conduct in order to achieve hope.

We find that the idea of work is taken from the teachings of the divine sublimity, who worked to create the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day.

It came in the Book of Genesis in the Torah that when God looked at the work of His hands, He said of it that it was “very good”, that is, the fruit of distinguished, masterful work.

And in another saying: “God created man to work with Him on the earth. So God planted the garden and put Adam in it to cultivate it and keep it”; this is a commission from God to work, since cultivation means bringing about growth and development and protecting it from corruption or failure.

Among the other biblical principles about work: that work is not only for the benefit of the worker but also for the benefit of others, that work is a gift from God and He blesses it for His people, and that God qualifies His people for work.

And the word of God came in the Holy Gospel, with the Apostle Paul’s instruction to those who prefer not to work: “if any would not work, neither should he eat; now them that are such we command and exhort by what the Lord Christ brought, who said: My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work”.

And the Holy Quran came to stress the importance of work, as God Almighty said: “And say: Work, for God will see your work, and His Messenger and the believers”, and His saying: “those who do righteous deeds, that they will have a great reward”, and other sublime verses that urge us to work to earn our living on earth and the heavenly reward in the hereafter.

As for hope, the heavenly religions call for hope and joy, as the Lord says: “I know that there is no good in them, but for a man to rejoice, and to do good in his life. And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God”.

And the Lord says: “Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase”, and “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end and hope.

And God Almighty’s saying: “Those who believe and do righteous deeds – blessedness is theirs and a good return”, “I will not allow the work of any worker among you to be lost, whether male or female; you are of one another”, and His saying: “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it”.

Add to that the popular proverbs inherited and passed down through the generations, taken from good character and the sayings of God Almighty, who forgets none of His servants: “such as sincerity of intention, and that doing good has a great reward and recompense, and that every diligent person gets his share”.

This embodies the value of work and hope among human beings, and hence we draw inspiration from the words and work of God for the value of work and hope, however great the difficulties and challenges.

The world is going through economic, environmental and climatic conditions and wars caused by some human beings who promote concepts and rights for genders alien to the teachings of God and the heavenly religions.

This increases the burdens placed on the shoulders of peoples all over the world and negatively affects people’s ambitions and hopes.

All Egyptians are certain of the situation the country is going through and the accumulated problems that have negatively affected economic and human development, and citizens have become aware of what is happening in the various countries of the world and the harm they suffered as a result of previous policies, and of the efforts being made to restore human dignity and provide a decent life for all.

However, hope can only be achieved if officials and governments put forward a vision of solutions to the current problems and prepare to face the future and its challenges, opening windows of hope before people and encouraging them to work to achieve hope.