Industry comes from the Latin industria, which means a combination of diligence, zeal and assiduousness (in Dutch: vlijt, ijver, naarstigheid) and this title uses the industry word with this meaning. If we look at "our" society, we can safely say that "industria" has been a pillar value since centuries. It has laid the foundations of our current welfare and well-being. Agriculture, Industry and Services are just impressive manifestations of this original industry - industria.
You would expect that such an important value as industry can easily be traced back to the Bible, which is considered to be the foundation of our western Christian culture. Well, you might be terribly disappointed if you try that. The Bible does not encourage us to work at all. Let us have a look at the fine fleur of our christian stories in the New Testament.
There are a few metaphors referring to hard work like "the fishermen" and "the sower". But apart from that almost all stories plead against hard work. The workers in the vineyard who work least, receive the largest hourly salary. The Prodigal Son is celebrated more than his hard-working brother. Jesus recommends his disciples not to worry too much and look at the beauty of the birds and the flowers. He reproves the hard-working Martha and sets her "just-listening" sister Maria as an example. The only story where some entrepreneurial zeal is rewarded, is the story of the talents, which is paradoxically misinterpreted as a story about personal endowments. Jesus is not pleading for industria and he would not make an ideal son-in-law in our age.
Christianity invented the industria much later, when monasteries were founded (ora et labora - pray and work) and when the model-myth of Joseph the carpenter was reconstructed from a single disapproving sentence in the Bible: "Isn't he the son of the carpenter?".
If industria is so important as a value, why is it "not really" a core value in christian faith? The answer is simple: because of the nature of man. Man is naturally inclined to industria for his survival and christian faith has always served as a counterbalance to this inclination. The teaching of the gospels tries to bring some balance in our lives, we need a seventh day to rest mentally and to see things straight again. Work may require a lot of time, and it may absorb us but it is not the essence of life.
This is important in a time like this, when life in industry has become very demanding. We need to be aware that life has always been tough and demanding and that the noble industria keeps us going in a wonderful way and sometimes with astonishing results. But industria is not the same as workoholism. If we lose the counterbalance to work that is proposed to us on the seventh day of the week, we may end up with a loss of meaning in work and we may lose our valuable industria.
I also refer to my earlier blogs: "Ode to Discipline" and (in Dutch) "Ode aan de Arbeid" en "Onze werkbiotoop".
I dedicate this blog to my industrious and diligent friend Georges Amirza at the occasion of his birthday.
I dedicate this blog to my industrious and diligent friend Georges Amirza at the occasion of his birthday.
No comments:
Post a Comment