The glory of work and the joy of living.

I'm reading Theodore Roosevelt's autobiography and enjoying it... not so much the political parts (though interesting because he fought against a lot of corruption), but I'm reading now about his ranching days in the Dakotas and riding roundups and brandings and fighting wildfires (I think he was in his late 20's at the time). It's a romantic but realistic picture of the cowboy's life. He's an amazing writer and led an amazing life.

"It was a land of vast silent spaces, of lonely rivers, and of plains where the wild game stared at the passing horseman... In that land we led a free and hardy life, with horse and with rifle. We worked under the scorching midsummer sun, when the wide plains shimmered and wavered in the heat; and we knew the freezing misery of riding night gaurd round the cattle in the late fall round-up... We knew toil and hardship and hunger and thirst; and we saw men die violent deaths as they worked among the horses and cattle, or fought in evil feuds with one another; but we felt the beat of hardy life in our veins, and ours was the glory of work and the joy of living."

"... the glory of work and the joy of living." That's missing from most American lives these days.

I think about Grandpa Gus often. He farmed, mostly peaches and prunes. I loved climbing up on his dusty lap when he'd come in for noon-time dinner and smelling his honest and dirty sweat. He had pride in his work and I have a sweet memory of him picking a peach and slicing into it with his pocket knife and then sharing the warm fruit with whomever was there. Those were his peaches. Every one of them. And it's like to him they were sweet because of his care. You know, the juiciest tomatoes are always the ones from your own plants that you planted and watered and harvested yourself. Imagine that your life's work resulted in that kind of satisfaction. I think my Grandpa was satisfied with his life. I think he understood that "glory of work and joy of living".

Grandma Elta seemed equally satisfied. Not even 5' tall, her wide-brimmed hat peeked over the hollyhocks as she tended to her garden. She'd snip the stems and fashion bouquets in big glass vases for the church altar. She cooked hearty meals for Grandpa, and the hoboes who came to her back door. She served Gus his own peaches, sliced in a bowl and covered in cream. She picked the Kentucky Wonders and snapped them into a big kettle and boiled them fresh with bits of bacon. She kept their house clean and in order. Before she got so old, she would sell the peaches and her produce at a stand by the roadside.

I can't imagine Grandma or Grandpa ever saying "I hate my life".

Maybe unhappiness and dissatisfaction is because very few of us do work that results in ripe peaches or branded cows or bouquets of hollyhocks. Maybe our joy of living is sapped because we don't know that glory of work.

From where I sit right now, my front porch views are of huge RVs and travel trailers filled with retirees looking for joy. We winter here in the desert and head north for the summer. We hire Activity Directors to fill our lives with Bingo and Bowling and BBQs. We learn to paint or carve wood or line dance or make jewelry hoping to find, at the least, some satisfaction, and at the best, a bit of joy.

They sold tractors, taught school, worked as politicians, built houses, drove truck, sold real estate... How many can look back on their lives and say they knew the glory of work and the joy of living? And how many fewer say they know that right now?

I know it's not about peaches and flower gardens and cowboys. Our pursuit of a satisfying and joyful life begins before our first job and lasts long beyond retirement.

And I know that despite whatever job I'm doing, God can bring me joy and satisfaction if I align my life with Him.

And when you do this, God may change your job, bring you a new "work", or He may just change your attitude towards your present one. Your work may be raising a family, keeping a home, helping a neighbor, or working at McDonald's. It can be running a corporation or fighting fires. But it's not whether you plant a garden, grow an orchard or ride horses. The glory of work comes from the attitude you have in that work. The joy of living comes from being satisfied with the work you accomplish.

But accomplish something. Don't pursue joy through filling your life with activities but let joy come as a result of satisfaction with a work well done.