Tuesday, October 17, 2006

On Work (Kahlil Gibran)

You work that you may keep pace with the earth and the soul of the earth.
For to be idle is to become a stranger unto the seasons,
and to step out of life's procession, that marches in majesty and proud submission towards the infinite.

When you work you are a flute through whose heart the whispering of the hours turns to music.
Which of you would be a reed, dumb and silent, when all else sings together in unison?

Always you have been told that work is a curse and labour a misfortune.
But I say to you that when you work you fulfil a part of earth's furthest dream, assigned to you when that dream was born,
And in keeping yourself with labour you are in truth loving life,
And to love life through labour is to be intimate with life's inmost secret.

But if you in your pain call birth an affliction and the support of the flesh a curse written upon your brow, then I answer that naught but the sweat of your brow shall wash away that which is written.

You have been told also that life is darkness, and in your weariness you echo what was said by the weary.
And I say that life is indeed darkness save when there is urge,
And all urge is blind save when there is knowledge,
And all knowledge is vain save when there is work,
And all work is empty save when there is love;
And when you work with love you bind yourself to yourself, and to one another, and to God.

And what is it to work with love?
It is to weave the cloth with threads drawn from your heart,
even as if your beloved were to wear that cloth.
It is to build a house with affection,
even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.
It is to sow seeds with tenderness and reap the harvest with joy,
even as if your beloved were to eat the fruit.
It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead
are standing about you and watching.

Often have I heard you say, as if speaking in sleep, "He who works in marble, and finds the shape of his own soul in the stone, is nobler than he who ploughs the soil.
And he who seizes the rainbow to lay it on a cloth in the likeness of man, is more than he who makes the sandals for our feet."
But I say, not in sleep but in the overwakefulness of noontide, that the wind speaks not more sweetly to the giant oaks than to the least of all the blades of grass;
And he alone is great who turns the voice of the wind into a song made sweeter by his own loving.

Work is love made visible.
And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.
For if you bake bread with indifference, you bake a bitter bread that feeds but half man's hunger.
And if you grudge the crushing of the grapes, your grudge distils a poison in the wine.
And if you sing though as angels, and love not the singing, you muffle man's ears to the voices of the day and the voices of the night.

10 comments:

Quitmoanez said...

Thanks to my friend Laurel for reminding how awesome this is.

:)

Denis said...

Obviously Kahlil Gibran didn't work in a call centre. I think that we have lost the essence of work as most of our jobs are useless and don't contribute to the betterment world. The exception to this would be traditonal occupations such as farmers, builders, bakers, healers, etc, and all that these encompass.

TheBlueMask said...

...most of our DAY jobs that is. Artists by night can contribute to the world`s betterment.

Anonymous said...

Bush was last at 37% positive job approval in a Zogby telephone poll taken in early September. In this latest survey, 63% gave him negative job marks.

Ted said...

I concur with thebluemask…

Jobs are simply a contemporary tool that provides the individual with a degree of freedom, unless you have some old money at your back (and no I’m not jaded because I don’t).

At this point; with the conditions of our surroundings, how can we assume that what we are doing is wrong…? We are simple trying to cope with the constraints of the place and time in which we live…revolution is something that could happen, but complacently has overridden the former ways of being and here we are surrounded by the gadgets and gizmos that pervade our daily life( and if your reading and commenting on this, you’ve got to agree). I like this metaphor…I rarely feel the pull of the moon, however I respect the power of the individual response of water molecules, which behave as one and that over time effect such significant change on the coastlines of the world…

And so, at least in this mind, here we are…

Let make these changes; subtle within our own lives and build upon solid foundations of transformation and divergence… Let’s have faith in our capabilities to change our surroundings. Leave these ways behind, connect, and rediscover the true nature of being, our own life, and what we can do with it.

I don’t want to get all existential on your asses, but it’s hard to deny the value of this type of thinking…

By the way; I can’t stand my job, I rationalize that it’s OK…but it takes the best hours of my precious days away, and for that I loath it…

D.Macri said...

What's your job?

D.Macri said...

The most powerful part of this, for me, is:

It is to charge all things you fashion with a breath of your own spirit,
And to know that all the blessed dead
are standing about you and watching.

Ryan K said...

Man, this is speaking volumes to me right now. I don't think I've worked more than a day or two this month, and whereas some would say "oh, lucky you" it sure doesn't feel lucky. The poet is right: one must work, and love and find purpose in one's work in order to transcend and feed the soul. In idleness we are lost.

I agree with you Dave about the bit regarding the "blessed dead" when I work with my hands (on floors and whatnot) I always feel my Papa, who was a carpenter, standing over me approving.

And I agree with the poet's sentiment that those who pursue their work with no intent poison the wine. It's great if you can go to your call centre job knowing it is feeding your stomach while you work to improve yourself through college, or work on art, etc. But if your doing it with no future in mind, and hating every minute of it, woe is you. It is sad that so many of today's job are so disconnected from the actual needs and joys of life (i.e. building, farming, teaching, healing, etc.) What would life be like if we all chose these happy professions over misery making ones like banking, buearcracy and bomb-making.

etrjzq: great post

D. Sky Onosson said...

It is a difficult balance to achieve. Work must both provide for something extrinsic to the work itself, but must also and at the same time provide intrinsic value, in order for a human being to feel completed by it. If either side of that balance is incomplete, then your life will suffer for it, either in the day-to-day or in the long-term. Mindfulness is needed here, but perhaps when that balance is achieved then a Buddha-like mindlessness can take over. I'm not sure I've ever reached that point, but it's a good aim to keep in your sights.

zwrulj - contemplation

Ted said...

Yeah, I exaggerated the hatred for day job. I am a graphics specialist and administrative assistant for a large corporation. I do manage to find joy there quite often and do find challenges that draw me in. The tools I use there, which include a massive array of software and some interesting hands-on stuff, have taught me plenty and I take these proficiencies into my personal practice.

The point here is that I would much rather not be working. Unfortunately I have been there and back again, I used to paint full time and loved it. The problem began when the need to earn an income took hold of my painting practice, and I must say that this was supremely damaging. I found myself creating marketable work and ignored the personally directed stuff that brought me so much joy in the past. Anyway, here I am, now and I am pragmatic about things. I would rather work for someone else in a somewhat related field than let the need to "survive" to invade my work. It's taken me nearly 5 years to find my way back to my personal practice, yeah, about the first time I showed at Label.

For me, this is a great commentary, all these comments I mean. You've got me thinking; thinking about something important...I like it.