A native of the United States clings to this world's goods as if he were certain never to die; and he is so hasty in grasping at all within his reach that one would suppose he was constantly afraid of not living long enough to enjoy them....and if at the end of a year of unremitting labor he finds he has a few days' vacation, his eager curiosity whirls him over the vast extent of the United States, and he will travel fifteen hundred miles in a few days to shake off his happiness... At first sight there is something surprising in this strange unrest of so many happy men, restless in the midst of abundance. The spectacle itself, however, is as old as the world; the novelty is to see a whole people furnish an exemplification of it.
Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owner except to feast his eyes on them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep.
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Work, Play, and Holiday
I recently read that the Greek (and subsequently Christian) tradition meant for an ambiguity of meaning when they said either play (game), serious (work), or holiday (non-work). This author went on to say that the Christian tradition meant for work to be the all-encomposing (work necessarily includes play and holiday). I take particular encouragement from the idea that my work can also be what I remember to be play and what I hope for in holiday. I am usually bogged down in try to switch modes instead of allowing all of them to be present at once. Maybe the laborer only finds sweetness in his sleep when his labor is also play and holiday?
Work, Work & Work again….
I sometimes wonder if we are activity junkies, we work so hard,..then to relax,…we party so hard,…then we go to packaged holiday tours that are jam packed and scripted.When then do we ever get touch with ourselves meaningfully? ..when do we make meanings, connections and joys outside prescriptions packaged as this or that which i believe is what being fully human and wholly Godly is about?