Unbalanced Scales

Back more than a year ago, when the initial stay-at-home order ended, DC Mayor Bowser made a comment in relation to worship service and Mass that was not the beginning of, but revived a feeling in me that a line had been crossed in our view of our own bodies, minds, and spirits, and those of our fellow man. She said something along the lines of, “We will allow worship again.” This ruffled my feathers. Feathers that were already ruffled by a few other statements and incidents.

Many years ago, as I read Josef Pieper’s "Leisure: The Basis of Culture," I realized that our identity had subtly shifted—from being people who work to being workers who are merely given time off. Pieper writes, “The simple 'break' from work...is part and parcel of daily working life...a part of the schedule. The 'break' is there for the sake of work…leisure is not there for the sake of work, no matter how much new strength the one who resumes working may gain from it…”

This perspective was not just philosophical but became evident in real life. It was reinforced by many stories I heard from clients and from my own experiences over the years regarding their relationships with work. One of the bosses asked an employee what he needed to do after work because he wanted to leave work at his scheduled time to get off. Thankfully, the employee told his boss he didn’t have to answer that question, and what he does with his time off is his business, but just the thought process behind such a question ruffled me. Another incident of a young lady being treated as lazy because she didn’t want  to come in on her day off. And lastly, an employee being seen as unreliable because they wanted to work less and spend more time with their family. These stories corroborated my inkling that things were out of whack.

More recently, similar ideas have surfaced in everyday conversations. A few weeks ago, I was shampooing a client's hair. Another client nearby was giddy because, as she said, President Biden had “given us permission” to go outside without masks. I snickered and said to my client, “Funny how when the government tries to take away our freedom, we forget Who gave us our freedom initially, once they give it back.” Same thing yesterday when the CDC said we don’t need to wear masks anymore if we are vaccinated, as if I needed their permission to go outside maskless, which I have been doing almost from the beginning. More corroboration.

We have collectively forgotten who we are. We are Creations of God, not the government or our bosses. It’s time to rebalance this equation.

Human-Written, AI Spell-Checked 5/15/21

Image from WIX AI Image Creator