Toil is man’s allotment;
toil of brain, or toil of hands,
or a grief that’s more than either,
the grief and sin of idleness.
-Herman Melville
In addition to that pithy quote, I found an old blog post of mine on the topic of work, in which my stories illustrate to some degree what I think Chesterton was saying, quoted in this post last week. It’s almost ten years old: “Art and happiness flow from love and work.” It was a good reminder to me of things that haven’t changed.
Let me amend Melville’s statement, too, because the categories he mentions don’t seem to include a place for prayer, which is also work, of the most essential sort. We pray from our hearts, or our spirit, with the help of our bodies.
I wish you all the joy of good work, strengthening prayer, and satisfied rest. ❤
Gladsome Lights 
And it’s worth remembering that Freud himself said, “Love and work are the cornerstones of our humanness.” I’ve known some people who, after retirement from formal employment, found no other sort of productive labor to engage and satisfy them; their unhappiness became increasingly palpable.
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I loved this post. It gave me a much-needed new perspective and joy
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With reference to Shoreacre’s comment: I too have noted with sadness the rapid ageing of retired people with no interests to follow. Happily, I seem to be engaged with all sorts of things in my retirement that keep me busy and interested in the world. Of course we have to make allowances for the physical impediments that age inevitably thrusts upon us. I have enjoyed your thoughtful post.
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Lovely! And that last picture is so cute!
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The daily quotation in my inbox this morning was from St. Josemaria Escriva: “Let us work. Let us work a lot and work well, without forgetting that prayer is our best weapon.” What a lovely coincidence that your post touches on a similar idea!
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Thank you for sharing her good words! ❤
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Happy Labour Day! Nice picture of a sweet little man being helpful.
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I do love your closing wish for us in this post! When those three things really happen in my day it is a Best Day Ever. And how many days feel like losses when I do eat the bread of idleness or at the very least that of only going through the motions. Of course a day of work for me now at 80 is very different than it was at 50 and I am learning to be okay with that.
Your Melville quote reminded me of recently watching Billy Budd on TCM. I surprised myself by loving the movie after remembering being required to read Moby Dick in high school literature class and thinking just kill me please. Not that this has anything to do with your post here, just throwing it in because that’s how my mind works. Sorry.
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It does indeed have to do with my post, because however my readers’ minds work, I love knowing that my posts prompted some memory or even distantly related idea — your sharing it is the kind of thing that makes us feel like more than merely “virtual” friends. ❤️
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Perhaps it’s our modern rendering of “toil” — I think of it as drudge and not just work or effort. Isn’t it marvelous that God allows our prayers to impact the world He’s made?
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