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. ❤