But they were young - and I was in a hurry. It was faster and less messy for me to do it myself! Would I now be more willing to let a two-year-old stand on a chair and wash dishes (after I had removed all sharp or delicate objects)? Would I now let a three-year-old vacuum to his or her heart's content? I'd like to think I would... But at the time I put them off: "When you're older," I would tell them... (The only problem was that when they got older, their desire to help was gone!)
When does work stop being "fun" and turn into drudgery?! When we learn how to do it, so that the challenge is gone?
I must confess that for too many years my "work" - things I had to do - had lost its fun. I don't want to live like that anymore. So I am re-thinking my concept of work... and I have been challenged by these words by Joan Chittister:
'Work - every kind of work: manual, intellectual, spiritual - is meant to be the human being's contribution to the development of the human race... We work, as well, to complete ourselves. We become more skilled, more creative, more effective. When we work we discover that we really are "good for something." ...
'Work is our gift to the future, ... and if we do it well,... it will be needed, and when we are not there to do it, it will be missed.'*
*Introduction to Deeper Wisdom, Holy Struggle, p. 27
No comments:
Post a Comment