This month, I read 2 novels -Jpod by Douglas Coupland (yes the same Coupland who coined the term “Gen X” to classify an entire generation –) and Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures, the Giller Award winning novel by Vincent Lam.   

How were these 2 novels different?

• Jpod is Coupland’s 11^th novel, BMC is Lam’s first novel
• Jpod is about a group of computer geeks, BMC is about a group of doctors
• Jpod takes place in Vancouver, BMC in Toronto
• Jpod is whimsical and witty, BMC is serious and somber
• Jpod is laden with pop cultural factoids, BMC is laden with medical terminology
• Jpod deals with issues such as Gen Y, globalization, fast food and computer games, BMC is about getting into med-school, the ins and outs of an emergency ward, and psychiatric profiles
• Jpod was 516 hardcover pages (although 1 page consisted of the words “Ramen Noodles” typed 364 times!), BMC was 337 in softcover 

Yet despite their differences, the one similarity between the two books that jumped out at me (and there were others), was the role and place our jobs have in our lives.  In Jpod, Coupland seems to question whether one can ever truly find meaning in their occupation.  In BMC, Lam seems to suggest that people often use their jobs to fulfill their own desires of self and pride - Doctors and their God-complex. 

Whether in a computer game company or in an emergency ward or _______________ (fill in your own work place), we all have to interact with supervisors, colleagues, and clients (and sometimes, that is work in itself!)  But we work… and we work… and we work hard at what we do. 

But why?  

Seriously, stop for a second and ask yourself… why?   That is the question I’ve been asking myself the last little while – Why do I do what I do? 

Interestingly, the word for worship in Hebrew is the word “ebed.”  And this word “ebed” is the same root for the word - work.  Same word.  Work and worship.  Work and worship are not two separate things that never meet, but instead, they need to be interwoven together. 

And so, do our jobs and occupations and studies distract us from what is really important?   Do we find meaning and purpose in our work?  Does our work allow us time and space for friends and family… and for God?   

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