"It is not enough to be industrious . . . What are you industrious about?"
Henry David Thoreau
I've noticed that oftentimes, when someone asks: "What have you been up to, lately?" they are looking for a specific answer. Generally, that answer is: "Well, I've been really busy." Then you can almost hear the sigh of relief in the questioner. I wonder why busyness in our culture is so valued? Thoreau reminds us that mere activity as an end in itself is not a thing to be sought after. Rather, we are meant to focus our industrious energy on those things that bring the most meaning to life. Meaning always involves being connected to something Bigger which works in and through us. Amazingly, we are meant to be a vessel through which the Earth knows and celebrates her own beauty and goodness. Are we up to the task?
Photo: Beaver logs on a dried-up pond; Vedauwoo Recreation Area; Medicine Bow National Fores, WY; March 8, 2013
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