Freedom

We never shall be free from embarrassment until we cease to be ashamed of industry and economy.
Today I made a new friend. As I sat in her home I felt comfortable and at ease in conversation. Our kids happily walked around enjoying toys of many sorts. My daughter quickly found an old laundry soap box filled with homemade blocks. She was delighted to dump them out and stack them, admiring the colorful hand made designs on the neatly varnished blocks. My friend passed an slight hand over her brow, cast her eyes down a bit with a half smile. "I am sorry for our ghetto blocks, kind of embarrassing to use a laundry box." I stopped. Was she really embarrassed? Could she possibly be making excuses for the fine use of a box and the great craftmanship of children's toys?

I protested, and proceeded to praise her for their wonderful frugality! We must remember that when it comes the day for our children to pick their favorite toys to pass down to the next generation, they won't be picking from something made in Hong Kong or Indonesia. Most likely they will tenderly pick up those items that were crafted by their parents; a cherished doll with a dress her mother stitched, the blocks that daddy cut and painted. Not only is there sentimentality be passed on, there is a legacy of industry.

What better way to express our feelings for someone than in the devotion of our time, our creativity, and our own hard work. If we do not devote the actual time itself with the person, how precious is the time spent creating something for that person. If we feel we lack that creativity, than we might employ ourselves in doing a good charge or taking charge of a task that is laid for the one we love.

There is no shame producing something useful. There is, in fact, great use for it! The humble work of hands swells the heart in pride. We become self sufficient. We have invested something of our being in the things around us. And what is to be shamed in that? That you cannot afford to buy something that someone else has labeled as valuable just by putting tag on it?

It has become a fashionable form of contemporary art to recycle things that otherwise seem valueless into great art. Your own genius may not end up in a gallery, but it will be famed in your family. So be industrious in your own hive. Work hard at expending your energies in creating that of what is of real worth. Don't waste your time working for money to buy someone elses' art, make your own! In the end, you will be embarrassed if you have not left anything meaningful behind for your posterity.