Man—the pure reflection of Spirit—is created by God, and he lives by divine decree. God is the source and substance of his being. The real business of man is to bear witness to the power, activity, presence, and intelligence of his Maker. Man reflects with perfect precision and clarity the wisdom and the creativity of God. This is his occupation. Man's true employment, occupation, or business is divine. It's an eternal business, the activity of Life and Love.
Jesus of Nazareth was trained to be a carpenter. And though he apparently followed that profession for a number of years—undoubtedly with great excellence and craftsmanship—he had made it plain in his youth that he must be about his Father's business. Christ Jesus was the way, the truth, and the life. His life illustrated for humanity the true occupation of man.
Usually, when we talk about business and commerce it is assumed that we are not talking about spiritual things. Business and commerce are thought to deal exclusively with material things—with the production, manufacture, exchange, and service of material goods, material resources. In the business world, so called, value is determined to a great extent by scarcity: by the degree of the availability of some product or service. Natural resources, markets, financing, and so on, are thought to be finite and exhaustible. It is assumed that success is dependent upon the talents of those in charge of operations, the business climate, personal power and influence, and luck or good fortune. Such a materialistic view of business and commerce is unfortunate, for while it allows for profitability and success, it allows as well for recession, inflation, stagnation, unemployment, and failure. It also encourages abuses, commercialism, greed, lust for power, and domination.
