Shade Tree Wisdom 4/28/08

“The heights of great men, reached and kept,
Were not obtained by sudden flight.
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.”

In my walk this morning, a bit cooler again, this thought popped into my mind as I watched the yellow boxes chugging along, sweeping up future scholars and men and women of distinction and high achievement, that some among them indeed would attain much, perhaps even invent some labor-saving device or record some other event that will be noted with pride and marked with honor in the future.

I thought of a Doctor DeBakey, sitting at his mother’s knee, learning how to sew. Using that bit of learning in future heart surgery.

And that’s never by accident.

The Bible speaks about being diligent. It has this bit of advice: “”Everything your hand finds to do, do it with your might, because there is no work or planning, knowledge or skill, in the grave where you are going” Eccl. 9,10.

The Message translates this like so: 10” Whatever turns up, grab it and do it. And heartily! This is your last and only chance at it, for there's neither work to do nor thoughts to think in the company of the dead, where you're most certainly headed.“

One practical result of lazines, says The Preacher, is this. “Laziness makes the roof collapse, and taking it easy makes the house leak.” KJV writes, “By much slothfulness the building decayeth; through idleness of the hands the house droppeth through”. Eccl. 10,18.

St. Paul mentions the practical result of diligence and effort. ”That he may have to give to him who has need”. Eph. 2,28

The other result, of course, of work is to glorify God. Let our lives show that we are truly ‘marching to a different drummer’, serving God in whatever we do. This brings Him glory, and you rich blessing.

GPD 4/28/08