Wonder Working Therapy

Entrance to my backyard.

For the past few days I have been working out in my yard during the day for several hours.  Trimming back bushes, pulling weeds and unwanted grass, etc.  As I was working  it suddenly hit me that I was getting some much need gardening therapy.  It felt so good!  I love being in touch with the earth under the warming sun.  And everything is ready to start its annual spring blooming. What could be a better way to spend your time?  

That's when it occurred to me that this might be a result of my own version of the Puritan Ethic.  The Puritan Ethic is the concept that hard work and frugality is your path to salvation.  Hmmm.  I thought I was doing it because I enjoyed it.  So I wondered: should I feel guilty for enjoying this work?  Does my soul need salvation?  Can I really work  my way into heaven?  All this as a result of what had probably been instilled in me as a young kid growing up in the midwest.  And this answer was "not really" on any of these questions.

So now I have come to the conclusion it is good and just to pursue our bliss...even therapeutic!  Whether it be in our gardens or with pen in hand or with a camera to one's creative eye, that is what brings salvation.  That salvation is of your spirit.  It is a balm against the stresses and strains of daily living in this crazy world.  Puritan Ethic or no, I just know we pick our own paths to salvation, whatever that means to each of us.  

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