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Show HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS Division of labor and excellence By Erma Jean Lee "None so little enjoy themselves, and are such burdens to themselves, as those who have nothing to do. Only the active have the true relish of life." Jay. "No abilities, however splendid, can command success without intense labor and persevering application." A.T. Stewart "No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling the field as in writing a poem." Booker T. Washington. Why do you do what you do? How do you do it? Labor Day is coming. In America this holiday began in 1882 when the Knights of Labor celebrated to better the cause of labor conditions with parades and demonstrations. Now, all states and Canada celebrate this holiday. Europe celebrates it in May. "It is to labor..." said J. Macculloch "that man owes everything of exchangeable ex-changeable value. Labor is the talisman that has raised him from the condition of the savage; that has changed chang-ed the desert and the forest into cultivated fields; and has covered the earth with cities, and the ocean with ships; that has given us plenty, comfort and elegance, instead of want, misery and barbarism." With all our labor, with all our plenty, comfort and elegance, we still have too much want, misery and barbarism. Why? Is it that plenty, comfort and elegance for some discourages others? Do young and old feel no need to labor iiiensely, achieve, or to choose a wholesome life purpose? Or, is it because unwise leisure leads to unwise use of labor capacities? In nature, the tree that stops functioning is cut down by man or wildlife who change it into useable elements or heat or tools for the process of life or new birth. Living, building growing, renovating, dying, dissolution, new life, new labors all are part of nature's processes. Wise mortals have observed well nature's living creatures who perform per-form their purpose with zeal according-to according-to their inner code of labor. Can we do this? Albert J. Colton gave a speech' to the 1980 graduates of TJSU, (reprinted in "Outlook",' JuneJuly I960,) and he compared the tensions of reasoning man to the two ways the 'priestly' and the 'prophetic'. Both sound religious, but use your imagination imagina-tion and you can see how each fits our lifestyles of health, science, education, social welfare, technology," government, govern-ment, and everyday human relationships: relation-ships: Mr. Colton, a Salt Lake City attorney, says: "The priestly shows an urge to give order, regularity, assurance, and even holiness to what mankind is about. This urge will constantly fight against our prophetic urge to tear up the whole thing, to expose its shabbiness, its inadequacy in-adequacy and to demand an accounting and a purifying, and therefore, again to give holiness to things. "Each one of us at one time or another has been aware of both such feelings. (Bibles are) filled with both such concepts, neither watered down, neither giving an inch, clashing with each other through almost every page of Holy Writ. "It will seem therefore that neither is totally correct, and that each such strain must exist together. "The priestly need the prophetic and purifying goad; the prophetic need the sensible tempering of the priest. "If this is so, then we must give the prophetic voice the freedom to be so ; by definition, no prophet at his inception ever won a popularity contest from the establishment." end. How true! The builder builds. The scientist categorizes and experiments with facts. The educator trains minds and bodies. The government keeps order in national families. The prophetlike pro-phetlike the artist, the poet, the visionary vi-sionary comes to scan the old, the unused, the decaying moral values and the rotted material timber, and by some means see that progress occurs. The "dead" is dissolved so that the "living" may become more alive!-Priest alive!-Priest or prophet both must be honest in their labors, award of society's needs, and in tune with their followers' labors. Both must use peaceful diplomacy to keep useful knowledge . and ceremonies while preventing the destruction of peoples who are the best of past and present, who are pillars of health and sanity for those who need them. Excellence, said Shakespeare, is that "Virtue and genuine graces in themselves speak what no words (Prophetic or priestly) can utter." And Carlyle felt that if there is a monster in the world it is the man who is idle or one who might be better employed in work or leisure. We cannot stop Nature in herhis march. But we can communicate com-municate together, and labor together as visionary, poet, or priest-scientist, and make individual lives worthwhile instead of in want, misery or barbarism. bar-barism. Shall we try? May your labors be excellent! |