These Four

These Four (1,227)

August 3rd, 2011

· Work.

· I work.

· You work.

· They work.

· We work.

· Common to us all.

· But how?

· How do we work?

The usual word following “work” is “hard.” We declare proudly that “so and so works hard.” We boast that “we work hard.” It seems to be the adult badge of honor that comes with corresponding fatigue and unfortunately, disgruntled features.

But is “hard” really the best word to follow “work?” I don’t think so. I think the best word to follow “work” is “well.”

“Work well.”

To achieve this level of true excellence, we must discard the mythology that accompanies false maturity growing up and providing—providing food, lodging, housing, prosperity and all the other amenities that go with what we consider to be our MountOlympus. I’m not suggesting we do without these things, like some sort of Buddhist monk. Rather, I’m suggesting we find more efficient, creative and earth-usable ways to acquire our sweet nectar.

It basically boils down to four entities—wind, water, coal and oil. You have to decide which kind of lifestyle you want to lead. With wind you get that which blows your way. With water you get something that flows in your direction. With coal you get something you have to turn the earth to discover, and with oil you get something that burns, creating temporary energy but also pollution with no regeneration.

Yes, does my life blow and flow? Or does it just turn and burn?

I think it’s the question that determines whether we complete this human race with exhilaration or with exhaustion, secretly grateful for the grave. Of course, it has a parallel with energy usage on earth. Why wouldn’t it? Everything is about the expenditure of energy. We’re either using the energy provided or we’re trying to dredge up—through hard work—sources of energy which are not nearly as efficient, but give us a false sense of security as well as an exaggerated feeling of importance.

I don’t want to work hard. I make no bones about it. It’s not that I want things to be easy—I just want to remove complication causing me to start being dissatisfied with the life that God has given me. I would much rather find the wind and water solutions that come my way—the available resources already in play—instead of feeling this bizarre need to always dig up my own and burn everything in sight.

When I drive down the road and see the amazing windmills generating electricity, I think how ingenious it is to tap that which is so available instead of churning up the earth to uncover that which is less-than-efficient in the first place. When I see Niagara Falls and the mighty power of water, I think how amazing the natural resources are on this planet that just blow and flow, but are ill-used because they cannot be manipulated by corporations, but instead have to be just accepted and utilized.

What we have to understand is this: that which works well is always that which is already in place, which we evolve towards instead of fighting against.

We see this everyday. You go to your cabinet and discover you’ve run out of sugar and you planned on having coffee. Instead, you realize that you do have tea and honey, and decide to make this a British morning instead of an all-American one. Or you can curse that you forgot to buy sugar, run out to the store to get your sugar and end up gulping down a cup of coffee, dissatisfied because now you’re rushed.

As we travel on the road, we call it “locking and loading”—and when we “lock into” something and “load up”—ready to do it at all costs—we lose the benefit of the blowing of the spirit and the flowing of life. So you spend all your time turning over every rock and burning energy to get what you think you want, which ends up being not nearly as enjoyable because of your level of exhaustion. Don’t lock and load. It is a futile attempt to control that which is really uncontrollable.

When will the human race realize that the best forms of energy are made by nature and not buried in the earth? It’s not an issue of being liberal or conservative. It’s not the campaign of a political party. It the fact that wind and water blow and flow—and coal and oil force us to turn and burn.

You have to decide. Do you want to work hard so you can get old fast and grumble about young people who have no sense of ethics and morals? Or do you want to learn the ways of nature and God—and blow and flow with the wind of the spirit and the water of the word—towards work that ends up going well and therefore is fulfilling, leaving you overjoyed instead of exasperated?

I think it makes all the difference in the world. Literally.

If we cannot create a generation of people who work well instead of working hard, we will struggle and eat ourselves off of the planet—just like the dinosaurs did. It isn’t an issue of “going green.” It’s an issue of “going smart.” Wind and water are here, blowing and flowing. To get coal and oil we must turn and burn.

It is not laziness to choose that which God has already provided. It’s just spiritual.