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.
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.
