Some believe that the greatest goal in life is to avoid work. It might sound appealing, but sooner or later, experience teaches us that leisure is not the same thing as happiness. Honest labor is an essential part of a healthy, happy life. Even when work is not a financial necessity, it is a spiritual necessity.[1]
A boy growing up on a farm in western Canada learned a valuable lesson about work. Near his home was a road that passed between two farms. He noticed that the crops on one side of the road always seemed plentiful, but those on the other side were meager and thin. Why were they so different, he wondered? Rain fell on both at the same time. The sun shone on each side equally. Yet the same plants that were so abundant and healthy on one farm were sparse and weak on the other.
Curious, the boy observed the work of each farmer. It didn’t take long to notice that the successful farmer worked hard at his job—plowing, seeding, weeding, and harvesting. The neighbor, on the other hand, was rarely seen working the field.
With that powerful lesson planted in his heart, the boy grew to become a hard-working businessman, politician, and religious leader. Recalling his observations on that Canadian farmland, he said: “We must learn to set our priorities straight. No one can be successful in [their] line of work unless [they work] at it in the proper season and [play] in the proper season.”[2]
Of course, too much work is just as unhealthy as too much leisure. We all need rest, relaxation, and recreation. But ultimately, rest is enjoyable and satisfying after we have given our best efforts to meaningful work.
Work is good therapy for so many problems. It is one of the best antidotes for worry and boredom. And when we feel that a challenge or task is beyond our natural abilities, what we may lack in aptitude, we can often make up for in consistent effort.
As another wise religious leader taught, “The privilege to work is a gift, [the] power to work is a blessing, [the] love of work is success.”[3]
[1] See Neal A. Maxwell, “Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel,” Ensign, May 1998, 38.
[2] N. Eldon Tanner, “Worthy of Proper Recommendation,” Ensign, May 1978, 44.
[3] David O. McKay, Pathways to Happiness (1957), 381.
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September 04, 2022
Broadcast Number 4,851
The Tabernacle Choir
Orchestra at Temple Square
Guest Artist: The Piano Guys
Conductors
Mack Wilberg
Ryan Murphy
Organist
Andrew Unsworth
Host
Lloyd Newell
Saints Bound for Heaven
American folk hymn; Arr. Mack Wilberg
We Thank Thee, Lord, for This New Day
Mack Wilberg
O Come Ye Nations of the Earth
German hymn tune; Arr. Mack Wilberg
Processional in E-flat Major
David N. Johnson
My Song in the Night
American folk hymn; Arr. Mack Wilberg
Hold On, from The Secret Garden
Lucy Simon; Arr. Ryan Murphy
Come, Labor On
T. Tertius Noble; Arr. Ryan Murphy