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II Lent Thursday – Proverbs 6: 3-20
My son, do what I command thee, and deliver thyself; for on thy friend’s account thou art come into the power of evil men: faint not, but stir up even thy friend for whom thou art become surety. 4 Give not sleep to thine eyes, nor slumber with thine eyelids; 5 that thou mayest deliver thyself as a doe out of the toils, and as a bird out of a snare. 6 Go to the ant, O sluggard; and see, and emulate his ways, and become wiser than he. 7 For whereas he has no husbandry, nor any one to compel him, and is under no master, 8 he prepares food for himself in the summer, and lays by abundant store in harvest. Or go to the bee, and learn how diligent she is, and how earnestly she is engaged in her work; whose labours kings and private men use for health, and she is desired and respected by all: though weak in body, she is advanced by honouring wisdom. 9 How long wilt thou lie, O sluggard? and when wilt thou awake out of sleep? 10 Thou sleepest a little, and thou restest a little, and thou slumberest a short time, and thou foldest thine arms over thy breast a little. 11 Then poverty comes upon thee as an evil traveller, and want as a swift courier: but if thou be diligent, thine harvest shall arrive as a fountain, and poverty shall flee away as a bad courier. 12 A foolish man and a transgressor goes in ways that are not good. 13 And the same winks with the eye, and makes a sign with his foot, and teaches with the beckonings of his fingers. 14 His perverse heart devises evils: at all times such a one causes troubles to a city. 15 Therefore his destruction shall come suddenly; overthrow and irretrievable ruin. 16 For he rejoices in all things which God hates, and he is ruined by reason of impurity of soul. 17 The eye of the haughty, a tongue unjust, hands shedding the blood of the just; 18 and a heart devising evil thoughts, and feet hastening to do evil, —are hateful to God. 19 An unjust witness kindles falsehoods, and brings on quarrels between brethren. 20 My son, keep the laws of thy father, and reject not the ordinances of thy mother:
When our children were little, we used read to them a charming picture book called Ant and Bee, designed to teach a child the alphabet. Today the sacred author uses the image of the ant and the bee to teach us the letter L, which is the first letter of “labor.” The motto for the healthy spiritual life, both for one’s interior life and one’s life in community, is ora et labora, pray and work! Sermons and religious writings tend to say more about the ora half of the formula than the labora, but you really cannot have one without the other. Interpreting the meaning of God’s command to our First Parents to “till and keep” the Garden of Paradise, the Holy Fathers comment that the command has two sides, one interior and one exterior. The interior meaning of the command is to till and keep the mind through prayer. The exterior meaning is to till and to keep the beautiful creation that God has given us. God’s command contains both meanings, and therefore we must do both. For our prayer to be beneficial, it must be accompanied by labor, and for our work to have meaning, it must be accompanied by prayer.
Our Holy Father John Chrysostom says that the inspired author chose the example of the humblest creatures in order to humble us: We are not as good as they!
“Go to the ant, you sluggard.” (Verse six). It is a severe indictment when a human being has recourse to an irrational creature to be instructed in virtue, the rational by the irrational, the master by the slave. He could have chosen a bigger animal, of course, if he had wanted, but his intention was to shame them by the lowliness of the example…Notice what feature of theirs he bids them imitate: their efforts, their hard work…”
Animals, of course, do not make moral choices. They do not have to struggle against the passions, and they do everything according to their nature, according to God’s design. But the Scriptures and Fathers frequently point to their instinctive obedience to God’s will in order to shame us, for, unlike the animals, we often do not act according to our true nature, but according to our passions.
After the saints have attained freedom from the passions, they act consistently according to our true nature, and therefore all of creation obeys them: they work miracles of healing, they live in harmony with the most ferocious beasts, they can live for days on tiny servings of the simplest of foods, and so forth. But this does not happen overnight: They have to force themselves for many years to struggle against their passions; they fulfill the dictum “Give blood and receive spirit.” And not only in prayer: They also work and provide for others, always looking for a way to exert themselves for the benefit of their brethren.
St. John Chrysostom goes on to comment on the bee as one who does work that provides real benefit to others:
“Or go to the bee and learn how diligent she is.” (Verse eight). She is not treated badly by strangers like that other creature, nor concerned [only] for her own house like the ant. Instead, while she undergoes work and hardship, profit from her goes to others. The Christian should be like this; Paul ran his course in this way so that others might rest, his words being to this effect, “I do this for the sake of the elect, so that they may attain eternal life.” What is required is not only to work, but also to have a valuable effect…
The Fathers identify the worker bee – a female that does not mate, a virgin – as a symbol of the virgin life of monks and nuns, whose spiritual labors produce the honey of spiritual graces for the whole Church. And for all of us, the humble honeybee provides inspiration and example: Let us strive always that our labors may have, as St. John Chrysostom says, “a valuable effect” for others in all that we do!
Living as we do, however, in a technological society where the work we do to support ourselves is often impersonal and abstract, and it is difficult to discern its immediate benefit to others – or, perhaps, in fact, there is none! – our work appears often simply as a necessary evil, not an inherent good. This is why many gifted young adults are now fleeing the white collar world and seeking ways to support their families through farming, skilled trades, crafts, and operating small businesses that sell locally made products of integrity, usefulness, and beauty. Their work may be hard, and they may have less money, but the work is delightful, and they see the benefit to others all the time. We should pray for this trend to continue, and for the Lord to provide the circumstances in which it is possible, in the face of so much opposition from the global elite. But if you are stuck in a job that seems meaningless, increase your efforts for interior prayer throughout the day, remember that simply supporting your family is, in itself, a blessed labor, and ask the Lord to open a door, so that you can both support those for whom you are responsible, and do work that has integrity, nobility, and intrinsic meaning.
O Lord, how wonderful are Thy works, in wisdom hast Thou made them all! Grant that we may benefit from the example of the ant and the bee and be diligent in all that we do for Thee and for our brother. Give us the grace to overcome the passion of sloth, and console us by the delight of sharing in Thy work of care for Thy creation. Amen.