Are You Looking Forward To The Inspection?

“The reason a lot of people do not recognize opportunity is because it usually goes around wearing overalls, looking like hard work.” –Thomas Edison

This quote from Thomas Edison caught my attention because, it seems to me, it is not often that hard work is thought of as an opportunity. Upon reflection, this thought resounded most with me as I remembered the work ethic instilled in me by both my parents and the opportunities that were provided for growth through that hard work, particularly, growth in my faith life. For this I am eternally grateful.

Growing up in a family with eight children, we all had chores. Along with hard work, we were also taught that if we were asked to do something, we were to do it right. If we did not, we had to do it again, which of course happened more than I would care to admit. Most chores were basic and fairly simple, such as sweeping floors, washing and drying dishes and folding laundry. When summer came, additional chores were added such as weeding the garden and flower beds, along with mowing the lawn once we were old enough.

There was one chore in particular, though, that I absolutely dreaded; and that was pulling the weeds along our fenced-in back yard. The fence was made of decorative wire, and the yard was big.  Commissioned by Dad as “human weed-eaters,” we were shown what was expected and then told the weeds were to be pulled on both sides of this large fenced-in area.

Oh, how I hated this job! What kid wants to spend a hot summer day crawling on the ground pulling weeds along a fence? At the time I thought my parents surely must be breaking the child-labor law. Then there was the dreaded inspection when Dad got home from work. Anyone who knows my dad knows he is very meticulous, particularly with anything involving the yard. Dad and Mom both were firm believers in doing things right. Needless to say, the job did not always pass inspection; but, in time, I learned my lesson. Eventually, I strived to get it right the first time and actually looked forward to the inspection at the end of the day.

I look back on this memory now with an outpouring of gratitude to my parents for instilling in me the value of hard work. More than anything in life, being taught to work hard and to do things right has been a great help to me in my faith life. Being a Christian is not for the faint of heart. It is hard work. But I do not look at it as the drudgery I once felt about the dreaded task of pulling weeds along the fence, but rather I see the hard work of Christianity as an opportunity to grow in faith and share that faith with others. Just as I sometimes failed to complete the weed pulling task properly, so too, as a sinner, I falter in my faith and do not always do things right the first time.  But I am grateful that I was taught to persevere and strive to always do my best so that I will not “dread the inspection at the end of the day,” the day of judgment, when my hope is to inherit my eternal reward in heaven. Saint Paul affirms this through his encouragement to us and to the Colossians in 3:23-24 where he writes, Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and the Master you are serving is Christ.

I pray that, as Christians, we can all see that hard work and doing things right is essential to providing the opportunity to grow in faith and to share our faith with others. I pray also, that we will persevere, with faith and in hope, so that we might “look forward to the inspection at the end of the day” when we meet our Lord face to face and hear the Master’s words, “Well done, you good and faithful servant“ ( Matthew 25:23).

Brenda Hopf is a member of Divine Mercy Parish in Dubois County and also contributes to the “Sharing the Load” column in The Message.