There is honor in work. There is glory in a job. And there is character gained in showing up in the menial tasks of the day. In our prestige obsessed culture, I can often find myself esteeming the hypothetical placement over the honorable laboring. If I’m not careful, instead of being present in the mundane work of the day, I can find the tangible has been eclipsed by the theoretical.

For this reason, I’m drawn to Gustave Caillebotte’s “Les Raboteurs de Parquet” (translated “Floor Scrapers”). The painting’s raw depiction of laborers hard at work gives honor to a job being completed in the midst of real life. There’s dirt and grit all about the building and body, there’s conversation being enjoyed in the midst of working, and there’s wine waiting to be shared together after one’s labor is completed.

And isn’t that a darn good representation of a good day’s work? A little grit, a little fellowship, and a celebration to wrap it all up.

May we all show up well in the glorious and the inglorious jobs of the day. May we all find honor in hard work.

“Floor Scrapers” by Erica Huff Studios (2021)