Monday, June 21, 2010

The Joy of Work

The Joy of Work

I was vacuuming the other morning, thinking about the fact that I vacuum, sweep, do laundry, cook, bake, dust, make beds, do dishes and more....EVERY DAY!  It gets old.

But then, I thought of the alternative.  What would life be like with no work?  Well, for starters, I couldn't truly appreciate rest if I didn't work first.  I would have no scope for comparison.  Would I be able to really enjoy sitting down with good book and a cup of tea, if I hadn't first cleaned the toilets and scrubbed the floors?  Probably not.  My book and tea would be somewhat anti-climactic.

And then, there is the intrinsic joy of serving other people.  Serving requires work.  When I do laundry, I am serving my family with clean clothes.  When I make dinner, I am loving my family with wholesome, delicious food.  When I vacuum and sweep the floors, I am honoring my family with a pleasant and inviting home environment.  Work is love.



There is also the practical side of work.  Work is part of our preparedness plan.  When natural disasters strike, plagues hit and economies collapse, we will all have to work harder.  What are we going to do if we don't know how to work?  Talk about culture shock.  If we are used to spending the majority of our day in front of the TV or computer or a video game, how well are we going to adapt to planting and tending a garden, milking a cow, grinding grain and making all of our meals from scratch.  Not to mention, doing laundry by hand, chopping wood with (gasp) an axe, felling logs, building fences and the myriad of other tasks that will be required of you.



And what about the kids?  Are you raising them to be productive members of society?  Or is your philosophy "Let them have their fun - they are only kids once you know". If you are of the latter ideology, you and your children will be in for a rude awakening!  Suddenly, you won't just be dealing with the intense hardships of a world turned upside down, you will be dealing with kids who resent even the thought of work, much less the actual practice of work.  Your job will be doubled or tripled as you try to work to provide for your family, all the while attempting to counteract your "let them be kids" attitude with your children.  TEOTWAWKI is not the time to teach your children to work.  They already have to know how to work and they have to realize their worth as a integral part of your family unit.  Remember, we are raising our children to be adults, not children.  Teach them now the blessings of work.



So, when did work become a four letter word?  Somehow, it became a dirty word when we stopped seeing and embracing the value of service.  It became something to be avoided.  It became viewed as an evil to be avoided, not a blessing to be encouraged.



We have a great opportunity to reclaim the blessing of work.  We can begin to view work as the blessing it was intended to be by God.  We can teach our children to value work and what it represents.  We can be and create productive members of society, serving one another.  And then, when the SHTF, we can be ready, mind and body.  We can be beacons of light in a dark world.  We can work.

2 comments:

  1. Very thoughtful post. We were, after all, created to work. In the first garden, Adam was given work to do, with many responsibilities.

    Your blogs are inspiring and helpful. I have read just about every post on your other blog, Livin' the Dream and finally decided to follow you over here. Thank you for sharing your off-grid life with us, along with your spiritual insights. May the Lord continue to bless and direct you ~smile~.

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  2. In the modern world, when we work for someone else (a job) and are paid money for it, and then use that money for what we need and want, it snips the thread of knowing you enjoy the fruits of your labor. We see the necessities and joys of our life being supplied by money. We need more money. We'd like more money. I love strawberries and thick cream, and this costs money.
    The proverbial work ethic is a whole different world when I go pick strawberries I've tended all year, and whip my own cream. I resent the work less and enjoy the fruits of my labor more.

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