“Judaism
has always shunned the Greek idea that physical work is menial, only
appropriate for slaves. As William
Chomsky has pointed out, “The Aristotelian lofty aloofness, which regarded
manual labor as degrading, and those engaged in it as inferior people, who are
unworthy and incapable of education, was utterly alien to the Hebrew mind.” [page 290; OUR FATHER
ABRAHAM JEWISH ROOTS OF THE
CHRISTIAN FAITH; Marvin R Wilson;
William B Eerdmans Publishing Company Grand Rapids, Michigan and Center for
Judaic-Christian Studies, Dayton, Ohio; 1999.]
Indeed, manual labour is not degrading. It is not
unworthy work. It is utterly alien to my Christian mind as well. I respect
people that do manual labour. Marvin Wilson quotes from the Talmud: “He who does not teach his son a trade is considered as
having taught him thievery.”
[Wilson, p. 222].
On 17 May 2021 I wrote about my plumber, Burnard
McKenzie as a man living a life of gratitude. Having a roof over his head. He
daughter having a job although far from home in Nelspruit – grateful she is
working.
I had to call him the other day to my home in Rivonia
to attend to a plumbing problem. He arrived 20 minutes ahead of schedule. And
he smiles. He has a job to do. And he will earn something. He has car to drive
around in. And he sold his old house and moved to another home that was prior
to 1994 an Afrikaans, white stronghold of apartheid.
That is where he is living now: Bergbron.
Me: “Do you enjoy living there?”
Burnard: “Oom Neels, I get along with people. And they
get along with me.”
Me: “It was a stronghold of white
apartheid-Afrikaners? Does it worry you?”
Burnard: “No, Oom Neels. We are happy there.”
While we were chatting, I was reminded of the above
quotes in my book OUR FATHER ABRAHAM and I wondered about this man: my plumber
who are doing this stinking, filthy job with such a smile on his face. And he
turns around and attends further to the work he came to do.
“Burnard,” I called him. “Tell me about that tiny
welding machine you bought back in 2021.”
“Oom Neels,” and he gave me a big smile “… that
machine paid for itself. I earn money with welding jobs I can get. R100 and
R200 jobs come is regularly. And it such a blessing to get it. I do it and the
people are happy to pay me to repair their stuff.”
I sense a deep gratitude for this wonderful thing God
gave us and what we call “LIFE.”
According to Wilson [Wilson p.223], the Hebrew verb abad
“to work can be translated “to
labor”, “to serve,” and
also “to worship” [italics mine]. Just re-think this phenomenal idea:
the sacredness of work. It is an act of worship. And I see this is alive in
Burnard.
Wilson finds a lot of common ground in FIDDLER ON
THE ROOF. I grabbed our CD and had a joyous time looking at this video
again. Now, I am struck by the industriousness of the characters: Tevye wants
to work. His horse became lame. And Tevye himself pulled his cart. But work, he
shall. He is daughters, each and every one is not shy: they work: milking,
washing and cleaning. The background is busy: people are working in the village
Anatevka – it is really busy. People are busy. People are working. It is a
privilege to work.
We are living in a dark, evil world. And yet I am
positive and optimistic about life. In spite of the darkness that surrounds me.
And I see and experience that in my plumber. Have another look at the image
above: we will not survive if it only darkness that surrounds us.
In light of my legal background, I am acutely aware of
darkness in and around us. The internet is brim-full of evil and depravity –
and then I am constantly confronted with the fact of the judicial murder
perpetrated on Christ; His resurrection and His ascension. This is the backbone,
the foundation, the measuring rod for my life and my attitude in me about life
around me.
Some say the witnesses who witnessed Him alive after
the resurrection, were hallucinating. St. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 15 that
more than 500 menfolk alone saw Him alive. How is it possible that these guys
were hallucinating all at once? I read
in Romans chapter 16 that Andronicus and his wife, Junia, were Christians even
before Paul had that supernatural encounter on his murderous way to Damascus to
sniff out Christians and to drag them before the authorities. Now these
disciples, found themselves in Rome and they are commended by Paul. In other
words, they must have been amongst the very first converts. First converts in
Jerusalem at that time, must have seen Christ after the resurrection in person.
What a privilege.
Back to Burnard McKenzie! I hope that you have enjoyed
my story about him.
Of course, the workplace is no longer the same as in
Biblical times! Shall I say that it has changed “unrecognizably”? Even so, I think that there are constants
that are universally applicable [maybe I should not put it that high! Shall I
tone it down and say: to my mind and in my experience, there are universally
acceptable unchangeable standards?!] Work ethic
Write me your story: neelscoertse@wirelessza.co.za
