Chain gang

Daily Prompt: Back on the Chain Gang

by Krista on March 1, 2014

We all have jobs, tasks, and chores that we dislike doing. Tell us all about the least favorite job/task/chore that you get stuck doing routinely. What is it about this duty that you can’t stand?

Photographers, artists, poets: show us DUTY.

There are a few tasks I put off until I feel strong enough to cope with them.  They include some really small admin tasks, which would only take a few minutes to complete.  Sometimes, it seems as if my to-do list works like a stack rather than a queue.  The things which have been waiting longest for attention are left until last!

At an early age I was introduced to a poem, which perhaps helped form my attitudes to housework and everyday tasks.  It is “Teach me, my God and King.”  It was written by George Herbert and set to music as a hymn.  The original poem is called “The Elixir”.  It expresses the point of view that even the most ordinary task can be made valuable when it is carried out as an act of worship.

This attitude is also a reminder to do things well, like the slaves at Colossi addressed by St Paul, who were told to work well even when their master was not looking.  (I am not saying slavery is acceptable, in fact it was one of my topics for Blog Action Day.)

Colossians 3:22-24