Although Thomas Carlyle was a tortured soul, his thoughts on work and the essence of work and man. He captures this eloquently in Know Thy Work. I think that Carlyle is referring to not the physical part of work, but the necessity of work in order for man to find his purpose. His purpose is to work and be a conductive member of society, but also, to gain his position in society and with God. "...all endless significance lies in Work; a man perfects himself by work. " (p.481). I am reminded that God has a plan for us and it is not done just by divine intervention. It is done through work. Sometimes, the work is hard and arduous; "Foul jungles are cleared away, fair seedfields rise instead..." (p.481). I took this part of Carlyle to focus on because I sensed that once a person can clear away the bad things, good things will prevail. It essence, Carlyle had a n outlook (specifically this piece) that the rewards for work are more than the physical and the material. His use or choice of words that are related to nature makes we wonder if deep down inside, he was was at one with nature. This could be argued since he lived in isolation on a sheep farm for a good portion of his life. I often feel compelled to reclaim the notion that I must work in what I enjoy in order to "love" it. That is why I switched majors and programs. I wanted my knowledge base (as well as my career of teaching) to go beyond middle school. "Blessed is he who has found his work: let him ask no other blessedness" (p.482). I found this line to be poignant in Carlyle's Know Thy Work. I thought about doing work that I would and can be proud of. A type of work that designs me to do more than what is needed to do. "...ask no other blessedness" (p. 482), speaks in volumes. I find it hard to think of time where I worked and didn't want or asked for more. However, I do believe that Carlyle may be referring to the fact that once you have your purpose, which inadvertantly, is your blessing, it is difficult to ask for me. You won't need more. The fufilment is present.
Denise,
ReplyDeleteMuch better focus in this post, and good connection to events and observations in your own life. The tighter focus helps you go deeper into the topic, even though this is the shorter of the last two posts. Be sure to proofread, though—your first sentence tends to be incoherent because it is a sentence fragment, and there are several other places where you omit or use the wrong word (such as, toward the end, "once you have your purpose, which inadvertantly, is your blessing, it is difficult to ask for me" (the last word presumably should be "more").