“Our churches are preoccupied with that which is now and earthly and transient, and not about the things which are unseen and eternal in their significance.” -Alistair Begg

Called (Back) To Work

 Called (Back) To Work

Work is not a punishment, but a gift that is interconnected with our Godgiven dignity and vocation

By D.C. Schindler4/1/2022St. Joseph, Model of Workers

“St. Joseph, Model of Workers,” a bas-relief by Joseph Guardo at St. Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal in Montréal / Photo by Bruno Olivier

 It will take many years to come to grips with the way COVID-19 has disrupted our lives, even after the immediate danger has passed. While some things will likely return to normal quickly — shopping without masks or eating at restaurants — others will take years, and still others may never again be the same. Of particular importance is the way that people experience and think about work — not to mention the way we actually do it.

We are currently going through what economists are calling the “Great Resignation,” giving what might otherwise have appeared as a curious phenomenon the status of a historical event. It seems to warrant this status because of its magnitude and its culture-changing implications: Not only did the rate of early retirement skyrocket in the past two years, but tens of millions of otherwise young and capable adults quit their jobs — sometimes to take advantage of the “seller’s market” to find a better line of work, but other times simply to live without a job as best they can. These members of a burgeoning “anti-work” movement are finding other, unconventional means of surviving, ways of making a living that do not involve fixed hours in a cubicle and endless paperwork.

What has caused this radical shift in attitudes toward work? There is not yet consensus about the economic and sociological causes behind it, but one thing seems certain: The pandemic forced us to step back from the usual course of our lives, which allowed us to reflect on the things we do, and why we do them. And when people today asked themselves why they work, many of them apparently found no compelling response: Why work, often toiling away at something seemingly pointless for people we scarcely know, if we don’t “have” to; if we can find some other way to meet our needs? Whatever the proximate causes may be, it seems we have lost a sense of work as a meaningful part of our existence.

MAN’S TWOFOLD VOCATION

Catholic social teaching, which has developed since the late-19th century, sheds a unique light on the state of work today. This teaching helps us to see that the Great Resignation is not just a superficial change in behavior patterns, but ought to be recognized as a symptom — one of many — of a deeper crisis regarding the meaning of life. Indeed, it is ultimately a crisis of love.

In an encyclical that celebrated its 40th anniversary last year, Laborem Exercens (on human work), St. John Paul II identified work as one of the things that makes us human. As embodied spirits, human beings have the extraordinary privilege of participating in the most original work of all, namely, God’s creation of the world. Made in the image of God, we are able to realize in a unique and effective way God’s creative will that the world flourish and manifest his glory. This gift was granted to no other creature but man.

The commandments given at man’s creation, according to the Book of Genesis, are to “be fruitful and multiply” and to “till and keep” the garden, which means to “have dominion” over creation (Gen 1:28, 2:15). In other words, the two “tasks” God assigned — so essential to our existence as to define who we are — are marriage and family, and work. It is not an accident that precisely these two areas of existence, the most fundamental to our nature, were wounded as a result of original sin: Sexual relations became complicated and childbirth painful and dangerous, and work became laborious and often fruitless (cf. Gen 3:16-19).

But in both cases, what was wounded was not destroyed. At the wedding Mass, we recall the uniting in flesh of man and woman as a great blessing rooted in God’s plan for creation. It is important that we see work, too, in its original reality as a gift. When God created man to till the soil, it was not because God was unable or unwilling to supply man’s needs, and so left man to fend for himself. If God gave work to man, it was mainly as a blessing, to share in his own free and celebratory bringing of the world into being: “God looked at everything he had made, and found it very good!” (Gen 1:31).

Early in his pontificate, John Paul II famously elaborated a “theology of the body,” explaining that the “call to love” is so fundamental to our existence as to be inscribed into our very flesh. Each of us is made for faithful and fruitful union — most clearly signified by bodily fruitfulness in marriage. But we are also “called to work” (Laborem Exercens, prologue) — and this call is also inscribed in our flesh. For example, the human hand, which Aristotle called the “tool of tools,” with its uniquely opposable thumb and thus extraordinary versatility, allows man to intervene in the world and refashion it in profound and creative ways, cultivating it, transforming it, giving it order and beauty, and making it fruitful. The vocation to work, in other words, is also an indispensable part of the vocation to love that defines our humanity.

“Love inevitably carries burdens. To put our hand to real things, to take the time to do things well — for all of the toil involved — is to affirm our humanity and to take part in the love that is creation.”

‘GUARDIAN OF WORK’

There seem to be two basic reasons that we have lost a “taste” for work in the contemporary world. One is that much of the work available these days has, in fact, become largely meaningless — at least in the profound, human sense. Work has generally been organized around productivity and profit, not first of all around what John Paul II called its “personalist” meaning. The main purpose of work is not what can be achieved by it, but first of all the activity itself; we work not simply because it produces good things, but because it is good to work. Moreover, it can be better to work in a way that is actually less profitable and productive, if it is more affirming of the intrinsic meaning and value of what is being done and of the people doing it.

Second, we have forgotten that work is an expression of love, and that, to quote John Paul II once again, “man cannot live without love” (Redemptor Hominis, 10). The explosion of ever more sophisticated gadgetry has reinforced our disordered inclination to avoid burdens whenever possible. But there is nothing meaningful in our lives that is not also a burden, even if it is a “light” one. To get rid of all inconveniences is to eliminate the very things that make life worth living. Love inevitably carries burdens. To put our hand to real things, to take the time to do things well — for all of the toil involved — is to affirm our humanity and to take part in the love that is creation.

We are accustomed to think of the Church as the “guardian of marriage,” cultivating and protecting that basic human institution. But as Catholics and Knights, we ought to become more aware of the Church’s role as “guardian of work.” And to do so we may meditate on St. Joseph, that great saint who was identified in Scripture with a simple — but increasingly significant — description: “the Worker” (Mt 13:55). The Greek word here, tektōn, is typically translated as “carpenter,” but in fact it means “artisan” or “craftsman” in a more general sense. St. Joseph may therefore be taken as the living symbol of work as an expression of the essential Christian mission.

When Pope Pius XII established the feast day of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955, he wisely chose May 1 — the date that had been claimed by the Marxist International Socialist Congress in 1889 for the annual celebration of workers’ rights. He thereby made clear a message that is important for us, too, to remember during this confusing and unstable time: The value of work can best be affirmed by recovering its deepest roots and its noblest purpose, namely, to participate in God’s own creative act — and to respond to the call to love.

The Four Year Battle Begins

 

"Our First Amendment freedoms give us the right to think what we like and say what we please. And if we the people are to govern ourselves, we must have these rights, even if they are misused by a minority." ~James Madison

We never thought this day would arrive in America. Last year, we learned that they can shout "COVID" as an emergency, and our life, liberty, and property disappear. They can shout "racism," and our inalienable right to self-defense disappears. The last thing we had was the freedom to criticize what is happening, even if there was nothing we can do about it. Now they can shout "right-wing terrorism" or "right-wing conspiracy" and say that freedom of speech no longer applies.

Leftists in this country claim that their violence is speech and our speech is violence. That is why they glorified riots last year that burned down numerous cities, caused thousands of injuries, cost billions of dollars, and elevated their cause as the most urgent grievance in need of redress. At the same time, they are pushing to criminalize not just the violent acts and actors at the Capitol on January 6, but any view or speech or assembly predicated on views that are held by those people. This is why they seem to be taking direct shots at the First Amendment's guarantee of freedom of speech for Americans, even as they plan to grant amnesty to those whose entire presence in this country is illegal.

As everyone focuses on the corporate world violating the spirit of the First Amendment by excommunicating anyone with conservative views, watch carefully how the governmental actors are coming very close to violating the letter of the First Amendment with the force of the "law" behind it. Big tech might have a monopoly on the internet and communications, but government has a monopoly on violence, law, and the ability to restrain our liberty. If we don't wake up immediately, our speech and freedom to assemble will be not only censored, but criminalized.

It started on January 6, when Tom Edsall published a column in the New York Times noting, "A debate has broken out over whether the once-sacrosanct constitutional protection of the First Amendment has become a threat to democracy." This is a tried and tested tactic of the Left – to have their columnists float a radical idea as a "debate," while their governmental actors begin working on it in earnest.

Just take stock of what we are seeing out in the open. They are now arresting people all over the country for merely being in the Capitol, even if they didn't engage in violence, vandalism, or theft. Had this standard been applied to Black Lives Matter, there would literally have been millions of arrests. So no, this is not just about punishing those who acted violently. The FBI is placing signs all over the country asking people to report those who were at the Capitol, something that never happened even in the most deadly BLM/Antifa riots last year, or at Trump's inauguration four years ago in D.C.

They are militarizing D.C. with 20,000 troops, when the threat of violence against Trump's inaugural guests four years ago was exponentially greater. They are declaring emergencies in states as remote as New Mexico with no evidence of violence present. Garrett Soldano, a leader in the anti-lockdown movement in Michigan, claims the FBI paid him a two-hour visit because a local called the FBI and claimed he is a violent extremist.

If the FBI had done this when hundreds of cities were on fire for days on end with no control among local police departments, I would just feel they are being overly cautious. Given that BLM was promoted as the leader of our civic discourse and we are all being treated like terrorists, however, we should be very scared they are coming for the First Amendment, not for national security. Remember, the Justice Department seems to believe this was a planned attack. So the hundreds of thousands of Trump supporters who just came there to express their views had no idea that a few bad actors were planning this. The fact that they are hunting down anyone and everyone should scare us all.

Last week, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman said emphatically that the First Amendment doesn't apply to sentiments he disagrees with. "This idea that saying that Pennsylvania was 'rigged' or that we were 'trying to steal the election' — that's a lie. And you do not have the right, that is not protected speech."

Thus, from now on, Democrats can unilaterally change election law in middle of an election – up until and including abolishing Election Day in favor of mail-in ballots – and anyone who criticizes it or organizes a rally against it is subject to prosecution? These comments would be comical if they didn't coincide with actions taken by his party coming into power in Washington that look a lot like martial law.

In other words, if you watch the language the Left is using about our speech and the actions the Biden administration and the governors are taking, it's quite evident that Big Tech is not the only thing we have to worry about. If nothing changes, I predict that even if Parler is able to become completely independent in the private market, the government, which has the ultimate monopoly on power, will shut it down.

Last week, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, the same man who is prosecuting business owners and threatening them with labor camps for earning a living, said on a conference call with prosecutors that he is investigating those from his state who merely attended the rally.

Already in 2019, Richard Stengel, the Biden transition "team lead" for the U.S. Agency for Global Media, wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that the First Amendment needs curtailment. "All speech is not equal. And where truth cannot drive out lies, we must add new guardrails. I'm all for protecting 'thought that we hate,' but not speech that incites hate," wrote Stengal.

This is pretty bizarre coming from a side of politics that already controls 99% of all speech and big business that controls speech. What exactly are they afraid of? If anything, we are the ones who should be scared of their speech, given the monopoly they hold.

Well, George Washington already warned us about the motivations of those who clamp down on speech. "For if Men are to be precluded from offering their Sentiments on a matter, which may involve the most serious and alarming consequences, that can invite the consideration of Mankind, reason is of no use to us; the freedom of Speech may be taken away, and, dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep, to the Slaughter," said Washington in an address to the Continental Army on March 15, 1783.

The question facing patriots in the coming days is quite simply this: Will we allow that final domino to fall?

I Was In New Orleans by Pat Darnell

 

I was in New Orleans

1. I I Was In New Orleans

2. 
   
3. 
   
4. New

Most natural thing to do
"You are disturbing
Our performers, Sir..."
"if it continues,
You’ll have to leave"
A waiter said to me

  Poison brings me
Closer to Jesus

"Sir, you will have to leave
If you continue to wave
And weave

But—where am I?
I was in New Orleans
Living a no regrets life --
Thief comes anyway
Only to kill, steal and destroy
And takes my valuables away

  "..Sir, you are still there
  but I’m sorry you must stop
or you will have to leave

Do I have to cross
That old rickety bridge
..Old rusted metal
Crickety bridge to
Get out of here?

  "I don’t know Sir;

…if you keep falling
Out of your chair
You must depart

I drank three hurricanes
Before I angled in here
To sit through this Ike
Allison and Katrin’ despair

Oh, or do you mean the singer
When he broke a string
Did I do that?
Did I do that, you see
Because I’m here

  "I cannot, Sir,Give any reprieve
  Nor answer your  Lust for poison...
  Sir,  Now, consider the door

I’ve been hearing that
A lot lately –Yep --
That I have to leave
You know I have
Heard all this before

I don’t remember
How ‘xactly it ends
Spirit keeps me alive
While solvents burn
My insides dry
Like a gourd

Coursing through me
Grizzle and bones
Till I have to go
And find my way home

I want first bite
Of every night
Not just a slice
After everyone else

  "Okay, are you going
To go now, Sir...
  Here is the door

Can I not just sit here
One moment more
For men and for God

I fought
to hold the weight
I climbed and tore
At walls, I bore
Into dams
I held resentment in
in my hands
held jealous
To my path…

To my path
So that I am here
A friend to this place
Tho' poisoned patron
A real hard Hurri-case

  "Of your stay here I have foreknowledge No --
  though your condition I see in triplicate
  Less illusion More legitimate
  Truthfully -- Face your poison you ignoble man
  Zenobly, leave boldly,
  Day will bring all to soon memories back again."

Heavens Open

     Rain is a gift to the soil.  It dissolves natural elements in the soil to make them available to be 

absorbed by the feeder roots of plants, along with the water, to quench a plant's thirst and hunger.

It fills underground aquifers to be tapped by natural forces and to be drawn out for use on the surface

by animals.  Homo sapiens are necessary to do this because they are dominant and capable of doing 

so.

As the various absorption methods are satisfied, the excess rain becomes run-off.  It flows into natural 

drains and collection areas. Eventually, it is absorbed more by the soils and aquifers, evaporates or 

flows down to larger drains and larger reservoirs.  The Earth's oceans, seas and gulfs are the final 

destinations for excess rain.

This run-off to the oceans, seas and gulfs becomes feedstock for more rain. This is a very natural 

process and to the best of our understanding is essential to life.

It doesn't seem as if the natural progression of this rainfall journey is to begin by bouncing off of 

concrete.

.