Consuming What You Produce

Consuming What You Produce

12/7/13

This country was founded on the backs of people willing to sacrifice long days and even longer years of their lives in order to accomplish a dream.  The dream of ambition churned within these people who braved everything to start a new with nothing but uncertainty in front of them.  As we witness new people being brought up with a different standard that what we have previously known, one can only wonder what the future of this country holds.  It is stated in the Bible that if a man does not work he should not eat.  It seems like we have forgotten this work concept; at least, for now that is.

I am going to begin this article with one of my short history lessons about the founders of our country.  I am not going to refer to their religious beliefs, while those played a central role in their lives; however, I am going to focus on their work ethics for this article.  We citizens of today love to break out all of our tools when we are going to complete a project around our house, church, or neighborhood.  While there is nothing wrong with this type of luxury, we tend to forget just how hard it was for the founders of this country to build a simple storage shed much less a house or church building.

There was no electricity in those days so the work totally depended upon the weather and the length of the days.  Doctors were of rare appearance and many times a sickness took weeks to get over instead of a few days with our antibiotic supplies we enjoy today.  The mindset of foreigners and constant threats were a common occurrence since a great percentage of the working force were sent to complete scouting duty instead of being able to help out with building construction.  Breaks and lunch sessions were short and simple with no air conditioned parlors or salons to rest their weary backs.  All of the effort that it took to muster up a building was contributed by every able body within that community for they knew that if they did not complete the building within the appropriate time, death would surly follow the entire estate.

Not many people were left out of the working community in those days simply because there was a job to do for everyone.  If a person was not actually working on the construction site they served as water boys and girls or hand laborers to bring the necessary supplies to the site when they were needed.  There were those who worked in the surrounding woods to cut the timber needed for the buildings and those that moved those pieces of wood to the site must have been mighty strong.  Women were found to be at the site working their bonnets off trying to make sure that everything was being taken care of while the men were occupied with the project.  And we all cannot forget about the ones who kept the young children at bay while the grownups were slaving away.  I know that I have only touched upon a few of the actual jobs that took place at that time of construction but the picture is clear that everyone had a job to do to ensure that the new society and the grown of that society progressed according to its ability.

A step back further in time to the Roman Empire and we can see the same type of lifestyle in play.  If you thought that the pilgrims or pioneers of this country had basic tools take a closer look at what the workers of this era had to deal with on a daily basis.  The working conditions of the Rome had some similar foundational practices but in many other ways their working conditions were grotesquely simpler than in the pilgrim’s day.  Almost every tool that the Romans used were weaker in quality and in number compared to those whit which our founders used.  Yet the human factor was still in demand at this time as well and the Roman society was just as dependent upon human workers as was the founders of this country.  The same human working ethics were in play and needed to be portrayed so that everything could be completed in a timely and efficient manner.

If my reader is familiar with history he / she would recognize that I gave two complete different settings for my examples of human history, yet both of those examples are relevant in our own lives and society today because both are presented within today’s world.  The one obvious portion of these two examples is that humans were involved in both settings.  The living conditions and advancements might have been different but the human and everything that he / she had to offer is a constant.  When a person is asked about how the Romans lived one will automatically think of a Roman citizen lying on their side with a slave fanning them with a huge leaf fan and at the same time feeding themselves with a multitude of fruit by another servant of some kind.  In the other setting when a person is asked to think about the pilgrim or founder of this country the setting is completely different and usually something like: I would not want to live in those types of primitive conditions would be spoken to the person who asked that question.  Why is this and how does the settings affect our decisions?

But the real question that needs to be asked is if these two settings are actually different from each other or are they just different in their timing.  As far back as humanity has kept records the human has had to work for the things that they claim as theirs.  It is not hard for us to realize this concept for if we do not work for something why should we expect to have anything given to us for not pulling our weight.  Go back and read history and you will find that both of these settings will have examples of those who did not pull their weight within their respective communities.  Read how these people were treated and looked upon by the others in the community.  What motivates people to not participate within their community and help to pull their weight when things need to be completed?  I cannot imagine not wanting to pull my own weight for not only my family but in servitude for my county, state or country.  Work is an institution that none of really enjoy but we must remember that this brainchild of an idea is the major source that continues the circle of life for every human around the world.  So what is it about those who refuse to work yet are granted their own elite social status that usually has the same or greater benefits than those who continuously work?

This is the third article that I am featuring a passage from the book entitled “Black Sea” by Neal Ascherson.  Once again God has shown me a couple of things that He desires for His people to understand about the direction that we are heading and if we do not turn our ways of thinking around we could see an overall disaster fill our lives within a few years.  It is very important that we stop and take a hard look at the paths that we are accepting as the “norm” and re-evaluate them before we fall into seriously hard times.

I am returning to the small town of Nedvigovka which is located close to the shore of the Black Sea.  It is a small community that was hit hard by the Communist government and nearly died during this period of time.  After the Communists left, the local area began to rebuild and start over with new financial prospects and a few more resources to aid in the re-development of the community.  A local priest of the area had made an interesting observation about this rebuilding period and even though I do not know if that priest is still alive today, but he actually saw the world in motion for the future by what he told the author of this book.

Here is the excerpt from the book.  “What are we to think about this new Russia?  In this village of ours, people are beginning to come from outside and sell things which they have not made themselves.  To travel in order to stand on the street and sell carrots which you have grown, a toy which you have carved, a kettle which you fashioned in your own workshop – why, yes, that is natural and even good.  But these new people do nothing beyond buying and selling.  They buy an article in one place, and then they come here to sell it for a higher price.  They do not work, they do not make anything!  I have told my congregation that this is wickedness, a sin, to make money out of what you have not produced.”

What a great insight from a person who lives in a very small corner of the planet.  Until I read this passage in this book I had no idea that this little town even existed yet the local priest says words that defines the entire accepted views of the western world today.  One also has to keep in mind that this book was written in 1995 and all of the research for its material completed before this specific point in time, which means that there was no internet for the free access to everyone, especially to the rural area of the Crimea.  So how can this information be documented in this local priest’s heart?  It is because this priest understands what direction that humanity is progressing and it he understands the consequences that it will bring if we as a whole do not wake up and change our ways.  Now, if a local priest, who is a human like everyone else, can figure this image out then why can’t we so called modern folk do the same.

It is easy for one to forget this concept when the trend is to get something for nothing.  Western philosophy glorifies this process and it promotes it through the redistribution of assets to everyone.  Now while there are millions of people who believe in this system of production, it goes totally against the proven theories of work and everything that humans must to in order to claim something as theirs.  The convenience of this process is lucrative since little or no effort is required.  What a waste of existence on the part of humanity if there is no legitimate reason as to why a person should not be competitive in the working world.  However, when the leaders of the world have the same concept and make plays upon the glorification of this way of life for personal gain, the directional turn has already taken hold at all levels of society in which the new definition and standards in place.

Now, in order to be complete, I must interject the Church’s issues concerning this lifestyle.  One might not know that the Church has fallen into the same pattern as the world when it comes to this issue.  For as long as I can remember the Christian world has proclaimed that the process of salvation is easy and it is free of charge based upon the acts of Christ and His entire life including His resurrection.  While this is a very accurate and appropriate statement, we have placed so much emphasis on the word “free” that we have adopted the free for nothing concept.  Now, we also know that everything that God has done for our lives our enemy has a plan to counter.  Therefore, because of our inept and selfish beliefs concerning the mission of Christ and what our working responsibilities are, our enemy has used this non-action belief to his advantage

in the progression of human destruction.

It is the true and honorable nature of man to work for things that he / she desires to have in his life.  It is just as honorable for God to take away these benefits to humanity when they do not follow the rules of nature.  God established His works within man in order for man to understand the need for completion.  One cannot complete anything without exhibiting  some kind of equitable result on a personal level, humanity’s problem is that they have become so indoctrinated in their own policies that when they look at the results, society would rather stay at home and do nothing than make an honest living for their families.  Thus, is born the process of laziness where handouts become the income of society.  While I cannot solely blame the Church for promoting this activity, for this type of living was present before the Church was established, I can say that the Church has blossomed this idea due to the fact that we sit on our pews and wait for a future event without doing actual work that Christ commanded us to do.

What one does not understand about this type of belief is that it instills a process within our lives that has an eternal trap.  This eternal trap is a process that grows and overtakes the vital portions of our lives that we need to have in order to live properly.  It is a disease that affects our abilities to accept responsibility for our ways of thinking, looking, acting and working.  If left unchecked it can become so engrossing within our lives that we have no choice but to either remove it or allow it to totally consume our inner being.  If one wishes to compare it to a physical disease then let it be compared to cancer and the process in which this dreaded disease starts slowly and then consumes its host until death has the last word.  So will this process be implemented into our inner cores with the exact same result if we do not turn back to the one who can cure us of this dreaded disease.  It is written in human history and it will be written once again if we do not see the error of our ways and return back to the ways that God had intended for our lives.

In everything that God has ordained for man to do, work has been involved.  The physical laboring aspect need not be the exact meaning of this word for every display, but some explicit force is needed for each study.  The ability of man to create takes the effort of the brain and then steps to produce this creation can eventually be presented when the product is complete.  If one completes a product from its conception to its finale then those who worked on it will understand every detail within that project.  Not understanding even the miniscule details of a plan represents laziness and lack of determination to produce a finished product.  In this instance I can place blame on the Church for she has not adhered to this distinction of what her mission has been.  It is time that we stick our noses back into the Word of God and to see everything that He has for mankind, both the good and the bad.  We can only understand what our progressions will make us if we understand the true meaning of life.

We can try to accomplish this process on our own and from what it looks like we are failing miserably while we continually take steps according to humanistic ways.  God is calling for us to stop and turn back to Him for He does know what will happen to humanity if we do not heed His voice and words.  It is not God’s desire for anyone to miss out on the blessings of life but as long as we are self-centered in our ways, the consumption of our products will eventually run out due to the lack of people willing to honestly create the products.  It is my wish that everyone turns to God and receives His insight on how to restore our self worth through work for if we do not then our choice of selfish gains will produce death itself. 

DLB