"Here's the thing," my coworker often says. And she often reminds me this isn't forever; we're not going to work at these jobs until the end of days. In that case, it's not a bad deal. If forever were the case, would that be different? Yes. It would be a very sad deal.
Humans often think of life as a zero-sum game: you get results commensurate with what you put in. We're not necessarily mistaken because that's often the deal. An example would be a dessert that costs twice as much as another dessert being almost twice as tasty. We often consider paying less than usual a good deal. Needing to work less intensely or not as long as usual for a particular outcome? Good deals.
But here's the thing! Do you remember the Exodus narrative? Moses had helped rescue God's people from oppressive, thankless labor without respite. Egypt was the breadbasket of the world and they'd have starved to death if they hadn't stayed there, but it was an existence of counting every unit of input and output, pharaoh boss never being satisfied, and God's people not having freedom – or time – for worship.
You remember Israel's experience during forty years in the post-Egypt desert? We know they complained – "murmured" – longing to return to the cucumbers, melons, onions, leeks, and garlics of Egypt. But here's the deal. Because they couldn't grow anything in the desert, they had no choice but to trust God's provision. With manna from the sky and water from the rock, with the grace-filled gift of Ten Words or commandments to guide their lives together, there was no quid pro quo. There was no "deal." Life was pure gift.
My coworker often says "Here's the thing." For now there's a real deal because we need to work six days every week. But the seventh day? That's shabbat. Sabbath. Rest from planning, from working, from being beholden to any deals. A time to remember life as gift and to offer the gift of life to someone else.
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