Proverbs Experiment: Day Thirteen

Proverbs Chapter Thirteen:

Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper and be satisfied. (vs.4)

I'm sure you have to keep this in context with the type of society Solomon was in when he wrote this, because I know many very hard-working people who don't make much and so they really don't prosper. I was actually thinking about this the other day, because of two reasons.

1) I was re-reading Fight Club (interesting novel to say the least) and in one of the chapters, the members of Project Mayhem decide to teach a lesson to a police commissioner who was trying to shut down the fight clubs in his city. This is what one of the "teachers" says to him:

"Remember this, the people you're trying to step on, we're everyone you depend on. We're the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you're asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are cooks and taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life. We are the middle children of history, raised by television to believe that someday we'll be millionaires and movie stars and rock stars, but we won't. And we're just learning this face, so don't (mess) with us."

2) I was reading a debate between a few people about immigration - one group wanted all the illegal immigrants kicked out, the other group didn't. The second group made the point that if all the illegal immigrants were kicked out, there would be a bunch of thankless, menial jobs that no one would take because they pay really badly and the work is really hard - and the rest of us would say "no thanks" because those jobs are "beneath us" which means a lot of things would fall through the cracks. In other words, our economy is built on the backs of very hard workers who do the jobs we don't want to do, but we thrive because of it, and they are simply surviving.

I know that there are a lot of hard workers who do end up getting rich and profiting by their hard work - there are some in my family, in fact - but it makes one wonder about the state of our nation when some of our hardest workers get next to nothing, while trust fund babies and people who just happened to be at the right place at the right time get rich without working for it.

Wealth from get-rich schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows. (vs. 11)

This verse came to my attention, because I'm looking for a job, and I would say at least half of the jobs that are on job websites are these "get rich quick by using the internet" schemes. I even got suckered into an interview where I thought I was interviewing for a position, but it ended up being a pyramid scheme to sell some kind of health juice. I'm now even being spammed with some of these "jobs". I hope I find a job soon, because it's rather unsettling to me to see how many people are hoping that some sucker will apply to one of their "job offers" so they can profit off of them.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when dreams come true, there is life and joy. (vs. 12)

VERY INTERESTING verse. I think I felt some of what the writer is saying in this verse this past year. I had the opportunity to go back to my home state, work with someone who I trust and respect, and be with some of the people I've known for years. It seemed like a dream opportunity, and a dream that I've been dreaming about for several years came true.

Unfortunately the dream didn't last.

And I'm still kind of dealing with a sick heart. I know that I'm supposed to be where I'm at now, because it seemed like all the doors that were open in Colorado shut rather firmly; but when you've hoped to do something for so long, got to do it, but not for as long as you thought - it is disheartening.

My prayer is that another dream of mine - to work for an organization that fights trafficking - will be a dream that comes to fruition and is long-lasting.