Let them direct to God the works that they do, because human work that is directed to God will shine in the heavens…. For God created human beings and placed other creatures under them so that they might act on other creatures in such a way that God’s good works would not be destroyed.
– Hildegard of Bingen
from “Book of Life’s Merits” quoted in Essential Monastic Wisdom: Writings on the Contemplative Life by Hugh Feiss.