Hit the Reset Button

There is such honor in work, honest labor. There is such honor in the lunch bucket, Jesus never called anyone was not working. Andrew and his brother, Peter were busy with their fishing nets, James and John, sons of Zebedee, were busy mending fishing nets (remember John was the youngest disciple called, probably 17, outlived all the others, and died at 85 on the island of Patmos). Matthew was a despised tax collector, but he was busy. Luke, physician (all physicians were slaves). Others, all working, all busy. This old, blind, disabled veteran has so little use for those who just spend their lives in slothfulness, “Lazy-Boy recliner” mind on holidays and vacations.

Go to any government facility, Saturdays or holidays, and see how many overpaid workers are on the job. Schoolteachers complain about low pay, but never mention their months off during the year…. Every holiday… Teacher “workdays.” Post office, you get a job through political pull, and then you are “fixed” for life.

I so pity people who do not have memories, who can not remember gifts their hard-working, saving parents made arrangements for Santa to bring them at Christmas. My first Santa gift of remembrance, a tricycle, it was not cheap, a very nice one. I saw my mother work all day long in the fields, hot sun, to make one dollar. I saw my father stand on his feet all day long cutting hair for ten cents a head. When you have these memories, when you pause and reflect, then you have a better outlook on your “pull”, your “draw”, your divine calling to live a life of responsibility and integrity.

The Christian life is not complicated, just tough. The early church knew suffering, and it grew. Polycarp was burned at the stake for his belief, and the church grew. My ancestors who landed from the good ship, Kent on the shores of New Jersey endured hard times and hard weather, but they endured because they had the knowledge of God and the leadership of a holy spirit into a land of freedom. The thousands of real men and women who have gave all they had to give, knew the joy of salvation and the promise of eternal life. Also, they knew the splendor of work, they enjoyed their accomplishments, they did not believe in a “bellhop” God, one they could just call on when in trouble. Theirs was a living-breathing-sanctifying relationship with Jesus.