Bless The Work of Our Hands

"In all toil there is profit,

    but mere talk leads only to poverty."

Proverbs 14:23

"Are you a Finn?" That was a strange question to be asked by a supervisor. But, that is exactly what I was asked when I worked on a production line in a sewing factory many years ago. I had laughed and asked him how he could know that as I was living in North Carolina where there were very few people of Finnish descent. I only knew one other person in the factory that was. He said he guessed that because of my work ethic. At the time, the company I worked for was laying me off and paying me unemployment one or two days every week because the particular station I worked at would run out of work by Wednesday or Thursday. In the history of the factory no one had ever even made production at my station until that time.

I am still not sure how he would guess my ethnicity as I know a lot of people today of this same ethnic background who do not like to work and who will go out of their way to avoid it. I do not believe that ethnicity has much to do with our particular work ethics. Our work ethics are not necessarily dictated by our gene pool; but, has more to do with our environment.

I was taught at an early age that in order to live; in order to eat; in order to have shelter and heat, we must work. We must take care of responsibilities. We probably spend around one third of our lives working so we may as well do it well. We may as well throw ourselves into it and enjoy it.

Raising our sons, I would often make games out of household chores. We would work together so that the chores we had to complete would be more enjoyable for all. I tried to teach them that we should enjoy the work that we do since at least one third of our lives will consist of working at some job. And... even if we don't enjoy the work, we must try because we do have to eat.

There is profit in our toil. Sometimes, it is merely to survive and to survive well. At other times it is so that we can share fruitful time with others.

Whatever we do, let us do it well that the work of our hands might glorify our Father in heaven.

God's Peace - Pr. J