Someone taught me that Johann Sebastian Bach wrote “SDG” at the bottom of his musical scores. Those three letters were an acronym for Soli Deo Gloria, meaning “To the only God be glory.” I’m reminded of this by the quotation from 1 Peter 4:11 that Benedictine monks and oblates lift up as a byword for daily living: ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus, meaning “that in all things God may be glorified.”

This phrase appears in The Rule of Benedict in Chapter 57, treating “The Skilled Workers of the Monastery.” It was true in Benedict’s day, just as it is in ours, that monasteries supported themselves by engaging in various kinds of work, things like printing, cheesemaking, winemaking, beekeeping, and so on. So this chapter addresses the attitudes and behaviors of the monks with the skills to serve as craftsmen and artisans in the life of the monastery.

Saint Benedict directs that artisans are to work with an attitude of humility. In fact,

If there are skilled workers in the monastery, let them practice their crafts with all humility if the abbot permits it. But if anyone of these workers is so proud of his expertise that he thinks he is a great gift to the monastery, he should be removed from his work. Nor should he return to it unless he has humbled himself and the abbot permits it again (RB 57:1-3).

I have no abbot to decide to permit me to write or photograph or design Web sites. But I can still submit myself to the rule that I ought to practice these crafts with “all humility.” On the occasions when I have prepared and presented exhibits of photographs in a gallery, I have felt some pride in my work. It would seem to dishonor God, when someone comments favorably on my work, to not accept that compliment with gratitude. That would be to deny that God has given me some gift to share with others. I don’t think that honestly recognizing where I have done well in my work is contrary to a spirit of humility. Humility enters into my attitude when I acknowledge that whatever gifts I have for putting words together or in capturing a vision of the world around me in a photograph come from God. As we sing in the refrain of We Plow the Fields,

All good gifts around us
Are sent from heaven above,
Then thank the Lord, O thank the Lord,
For all his love!

All of the gifts come God. Not only the beauty of the creation, but our capacity to behold that beauty and to reflect it in words and images and objects we fashion with our minds and hands. That’s why it is so powerful to see “SDG” at the bottom of Bach’s manuscripts, because it reminds us that even he knew that his good gift of talent came from God, so that the glory belonged to him. That’s why I find it a helpful reminder to repeat to myself as I work, ut in omnibus glorificetur Deus, and to pray before my breakfast that I may be strengthened by my meal so that I may bring God glory in this day.

When I keep before myself the truth that the gifts come from God and the glory goes to God, then I can approach my work and my craft and my life with humility.

Ut in Omnibus Glorificetur Deus.