The lost pastime of work
This is a companion piece to what I wrote last week on work. More about work, just in a different direction.
One thing that's been on my mind a lot as we've greatly increased our physical workload since moving here has been how little people choose to work in our modern world. When we've got downtime, we most often choose sedentary activities or recreation to pass the time. In our modern lives the balance between work and recreation has shifted to doing as little work as possible. Aside from small household chores, a typical American does not need to or does not choose to do a lot of work. Saturdays are to recreate, recreate, recreate. Coming home means put your feet up and Netflix. If it's going to take physical exertion and time, it's dreaded. But as I studied and learned about the divine role of work in our lives, I am reminded of an older, different way of living. I love reading my grandpa's life history where, even in retirement, he chose to make work and projects a major part of his life. One of my grandpa's sayings was "learn to work and like it" and I think it's a lost lesson in our modern age.
What if, when you had a few free hours, you not only considered what kind of recreation you could do, but also what kind of work projects you might do?
What if, when thinking of passing time with your children, you not only tried to keep them occupied, but also thought about what you could build?
What if some of what we are missing is actually the fulfillment and divine nature of work in our lives? What if part of the reason we have so many hours to fill, or so much boredom, is because we could be building or bettering something? Elder Christopherson spoke on consecrating our lives, and said this, quoting Thomas Carlyle: “All true Work is sacred; in all true Work, were it but true hand-labour, there is something of divineness. Labour, wide as the Earth, has its summit in Heaven.” As the saying goes, "an idle brain is the devil's workshop," it would make sense that the opposite, work, would have divineness to it. There's something so satisfactory about work. You feel refreshed physically, challenged mentally, proud of what you've accomplished, and a deep sense that you have made the world a better place. To think that you can partner with our Savior to improve life for others is an honor and a true gift in an often selfish, idle society. "Work, work, work," President Benson has said, "there is no satisfactory substitute."
