The Job

When I was a college student I thought of myself as someone who did not have a job while I was in school.  "Job" meant that you went somewhere, did something and got a paycheck.  But I did have a job while I was in school.  My job was to study.  No one was paying me, so I did not see it as a job.  But that was my job.  Many of us have jobs like this, no pay, but still a job, maybe even a career.  Being a parent is a job.  Being a grandparent is a job.  Prayer, in whatever form it might take, is a job.  When I sit and do meditation, or a walk in the countryside or even city street, it is part of my job.  Meditation is not a waste of time just because no one pays me to do it.  If we don't do the parent job, the spouse job on a regular basis, if I don't meditate on a regular basis, then the rest of life becomes quite costly and stressful.  My paying work depends on these daily jobs I do, that pay nothing.  For me to say I have no time to read or study, is to be giving up one of my daily jobs.  "Do your job" is not a bad way to start the day.  It keeps us focused on priorities.