By:

F. R., Lasance. The Young Man's Guide. San Francisco: Benziger Brothers, 1910. 294-96. Print.

The Trials of the Workman

I will hedge up thy way with thorns (Os. ii. 6)


The words of the prophet, "I will hedge up thy way with thorns," apply in a greater or less degree to all men; for it was greater or less degree to all ; for  it was said to the father of the human race and to all his posterity: "Cursed is the earth in thy work: with labor and toil shalt thou eat therof all the days of thy life. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee" (Gen. iii. 17, 18) Hence it is taht thorns spring up everywhere, in the mansions of the rich as well as in the hovels of the poor. Yet there are some states in life where they seem to grow more luxuriantly than in others. Most of you, if not all of you, are in the employ of others, and this is one of the states in life that has its abundance of thorns.

    I.  The thorns of the workman may be turned into roses by his being contented with his calling. Contentment with one's calling can be obtained by looking at the world as it is. It is an abode of trials, sufferings, a valley of tears. "The days of man," says Job, "are like the days of a hireling" (Job vii. I). And the author of the "Imitation of Christ" tells us that mortal life is full of miseries, all signed around with crosses (Imit. bk. 2, C. 12). It is not only the state of the workman that has its trials- every state in life has its own difficulties and thorns; there is none where the sky is perpetually serene adn where roses bloom forever. In other paths besides the one you pursue, thorns are found to wound the feet of the wayfarer; indeed, they are often of a size of which you have no conception. Many a thorn of which you know nothing is found in the path of the priest, the doctor, the lawyer, the father of a maily. Even in the highest ranks of society tears flow in abundance, and "he that weareth purple and beareth the crown" (Ecclus. xl. 4) is often crushed to the ground by a heavy burden. Cast your eyes upoln the world about you, compare your work with the work of others more heavily burdened, compare your trials with theirs, and do not complain about your state in life, but be content. Let us also remember that men often conceal their troubles from the world, and that many a man hides a sore heart behind a smiling countenance.

Another source of content is found in looking up to God, whose will we perform. Our holy faith teaches us that there is a divine providence that disposes all things: "He ordereth all things sweetly" (Wis. viii. I). "They eyes of the Lord are upon the ways of men, and He considereth all their steps" (Job xxxiv. 21). Holy scripture teaches us that God disposes all things, especially the ways of man; it must, then, be God's will that we be in the state of life that we find ourselves in. What a consolation for us! As we work, we are doing the will of God. Then again, contemplate the son of God. He in whom were all tings created in heaven and on earth humbled Himself, "Taking the form of a servant" (Phil. ii. 7). The first thirty years of his life were spend in the workshop of his foster-father, St. Joseph. Ought not this consideration make you contented with your lot?

    2.  Another means of turning the thorns of your calling into roses is found in this, that your work may be made meritorious for heaven. Such roses never fade. Nothing is easier than this, for God in His mercy counts to our merit a cup of cold water given in His name. How much more meritorious than a cup of cold water will be your daily labors and trials if offered up to Him! St. Paul exhorts us: "Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart, as the Lord and not to men, knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of inheritance" (Col. iii. 23,24). If you work for God, not merely for men, all your labors and trials will become valuable for eternity, and will merit for you the "inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that can not fade, reserved in heaven for you" (I Pet. i 4). The wages you earn up on earth are indeed small, but the reward you may receive for them in heaven is incomprehensibly great. In this manner the thorns in your way may be changed into roses that never fade, and which will be woven into a crown to be placed on your brow for all eternity.