A Job Well Done

48:7.10 8. Effort does not always produce joy, but there is no happiness without intelligent effort.

         My father was an expert cabinet-maker/carpenter. He built my childhood houses from the ground up. I still remember playing on the floors of those homes under construction. My brother followed in the family trade that had begun with my grandfather. I instead fell in love with education after volunteering in my daughters’ preschools. 

         With summers off, I had the time to remodel my own homes to higher standards. I bought the best tools and, if no teacher was available, taught myself how to use them. I was sometimes assisted by my brother (himself a great teacher). My final project, demanding over twenty years of well thought out planning and work, is my current home.

         With this particular job, I took special delight in cabinetmaking. I sought out the finest woods with wave-like grains. I trimmed, shaped, planed, and sanded them till they were as smooth as a baby’s bottom. Caught up in the meditative flow of well-tuned tools massaging fine wood till it glowed, I was unaware of time’s passage as I abandoned myself to meticulous effort.

         My spiritual life has followed the same trajectory. My Universal Father and I have together built a soul from the ground up. As a child, I played on the floor of that soul. As father, I played with my own children and discovered their joy.  Firmly based in a traditional religion, I developed an acquaintance with ever higher goals of living. 

         I now benefit from a well-established partnership with my Father’s indwelling spirit, learn from masterful human teachers as we explore an epochal revelation. I’ve taken delight in the happiness of a heaven-bound soul. I’m rooted in humanity while reaching for the stars. 

         I’ve replaced the worn and splintered timber of my youth with priceless woods. I’ve shaped them with deeper loyalties, trimmed away my immature behaviors, planed my rough exterior, and smoothed my social interactions. I’ve danced with my Father in the meditative flow of a heaven bound soul.  

         In his last years, my father visited my home. I pointed out the work I had put into my first remodeling efforts. “Nice job, Mike,” he said. That was all I needed to hear. I know my Universal Father will one day say to me,

“Well done, good and faithful son.