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Nov 20 / wholemama

The Puritans on Unemployment

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Those of you who might be interested in this topic can click here.

And, as in most of life, humbling follows on the heels of success.  The quote I attribute to Lewis is indeed H.L. Mencken’s.

That’s what happens when the legally blind looks at a 8 point footnote font.  Mea culpa.

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Filed under Scribbles in Other Places
  • http://www.simplystatedsolutions.com Nichole

    Thank you so much for this timely piece. Despite what the economy is or is not doing at this time, let’s be thankful this Thanksgiving that God gave us the mind, spirit, and wherewithal to make our own luck.

  • http://www.mcwane.org Tim Ritchie

    Terrific piece in the WSJ. Thanks. I’m going to use elements of this piece to encourage our front line workers to put everything they have into their jobs. It is easy to go through the motions, and difficult to summon enough love of others, and pride in work, to keep on keeping on. I also have teenage kids, and we’ll read this together. Well done!
    Tim
    Birmingham, Alabama

  • http://www.generousorthodoxy.org Fleming Rutledge

    Your WSJ piece on Nov. 20 about the much-misunderstood, much-maligned Puritans was splendid, and so welcome.
    Perhaps it wasn’t necessary in such a short space, but a word about the intellectual contributions of the Puritans might have filled out the picture a bit more. The great Perry Miller has taught us so much about this.

  • John

    As a pastor, it was a real joy to read your WSJ article. Thank you! I turn to the Puritans regularly for not only theological wisdom, but wisdom for life. Years ago I read “Worldly Saints” by Leland Ryken, which shows the Puritans to be a genuinely earthy people whose primary activity was not burning witches, but learning how to live the worshipful life, and produced a lot of wisdom about all areas of life from work and marriage to sex and parenting. I highly recommend it. One question about the article, though: wasn’t it Ambrose Bierce (in his “Devil’s Dictionary”) who defined Puritanism as “the fear that someone, somewhere may be happy”?

    Once again, thank you for this wonderful piece!

  • Bryan Ruth

    Hello Wholemama,
    I was pleased to find this at the end of my reading time in the Wall Street Journal. Thank you for a right view of work and life. This was encouraging as it should be for all who read it, and a great reminder to start Thanksgiving to.

    Grace and peace,

    Bryan

  • Marie Q. Flanigan

    Hi Amy,

    This is such an encouraging reminder of the goodness of making practical application of our Christian faith! Thank you!

    If anyone wants visual confirmation that what you write describing the kind of people our Puritan forebears were (way different from the Victorian caricatures), you only need to visit the house to which Paul Revere rode in Lexington, MA. It was the home of a Puritan pastor and his family, and Samuel Adams (target of a redcoat search, for his fomenting of the Boston Teaparty) was visiting there. I visited, and paid for the tour, in 1992. Ushered into the sparsely-furnished parlor, the docent drew our attention to the portrait of the pastor’s wife: a very well-endowed lady, dressed to “display her charms”. The docent made a tasteless joke along the lines: does that look like a Puritan pastor’s wife, or Dolly Parton?!?! Most of the group chortled. I piped up, “Yes, indeed it does! The Puritans absolutely believed that God is involved in every detail of believers’ lives, and that evry good gift is reason to thank and praise Him.”

    I have to admit, I’m an Art History major, and I believe that art expresses where the artist and his/her contemporaries believed that goodness resides. I hope you and your readers have the opportunity to visit Lexington, see this painting, and be encouraged in the goodness of our LORD, and the riches of our Christian faith.

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  • http://www.wholemama.com Walt Davison

    Hi Whole Mama,

    Here’s some feedback for you re: “the Puritans on Unemployment,” WSJ, Nov, 20, 2009.

    If I were nearby, and if it was permissible, I’d give you a hug. But since I’m not nearby, I hope you will simply accept “Good job, Whiole Mama.” That was a fine piece of writing.

    I wish you the best with your (did you say 6?) kids. They’ve got a great chance to turn out really well.

    Walt Davison
    Dayton, Ohio

  • John M. Klaassen

    Amy, it’s fabulous! Props to you for hitting me right on the head with a 2×4. (We’ve talked briefly about work and not thinking a particular vocation to be “worthy” of so much effort.) And props to Em for keeping all of us in the loop on FB. Now I can subscribe and try this RSS thing. Keep up the excellent work!

  • Jennifer Dooley

    I read your article in the WSJ today and looked you up! Well done…..loved the piece. Glad to find it there, too.

  • http://notapplicable pauline timmer

    Dear Amy Henry,
    I just read your IdleHands: in the Wall Street Journal, the most wholesome content in some time in the WSJ, clearly stated, and compensating for today’s bad news about the Muslim march in London blatantly asking for death to anyone who insults Islam. I pray that many will follow up on your article and find a godly purpose in the midst of their troubles.
    By the way, the last paragraph, rather than reading “More than just an annual turkey fest, the Puritans…” would better read “More than just an annual turkey fest, a pedagogy of work and an attitude …his value are additional gifts from the Puritans to America”.
    I will pass your blog on to my three daughters.
    God bless.
    Pauline Timmer

  • Liz Barosko

    Just read your piece in the WSJ – excellent! My husband is currently unemployed and we work mightily at keeping a Godly perspective! Thank you Lord for the blessings you deliver on a daily basis and thank you Lord for Ms. Henry’s article; may many people read it and be blessed! Thank you!

  • Joe

    Mrs. Henry,
    Fabulous article! My pastor found your WSJ article and posted a link on his blog. Thank you as a man who needs to be reminded from time to time who he works for!

    Joe C in Huntsville, AL

  • Terry

    Terrific article. When Luther and Puritans are favorably quoted in the Wall Street Journal, that’s a good thing!

  • Robert Michael Riley

    Hello,
    Your piece on Puritan’s was one of the best article’s that I have read in months and really gives a direction to follow. Work, any work is valuable. That there are Investment Bankers and ditch diggers, and that while one is compensated more highly than the other, both are intrinsically valuable. What society can’t get their arms around, is that not everyone is a success (read financial success) and cannot be. We work for the glory of God, and by doing so, we succeed.

    Thanks!

    Rob

  • Anonymous

    Your article in WSJ was both timely and encouraging. God used you to bless me and my family! Thank you!

  • http://www.biblicalworldviewmatters.blogspot.com Dr. Christian Overman

    Well said! We could learn much from the Puritans. Many have smeared them, but the truth is, as a country we owe a lot to their biblical worldview and their commitment to live it out in all of life–including the workplace. For the Puritans, the “shop as well as the chapel is holy ground.”

  • http://charliewingard.blogspot.com/ Charlie Wingard

    Dear Mrs. Henry,

    I am a regular reader of the Wall Street Journal, and was delighted to find your excellent piece in today’s issue. I have commended it to my congregation. Thank you for your timely and encouraging words.

    Cordially,

    Charlie

  • William Thayer

    The Puritan virtues and values served as the core for this country for a long time and are responsible for a great deal of its success. At age 50, I became unemployed so I have some experience with that problem. My advice is:

    Work hard. If that doesn’t work, work harder. Also work smart and listen to the market.

    Not surprisingly, when I became unemployed a new job did not come up and slap me in the face. Of course, I applied for a hundred jobs in engineering and business. No luck. That’s when I discovered that I had become “self-employed”. I spent the next 10 years trying a number of different jobs until I found what the market wanted me to do (vs. what I wanted to do). Now I am happily retired and headed on my second cruise of the year.

  • S Dobrenski

    I read this article in the WSJ and really enjoyed it. We have much to learn from the Puritans and their theology I believe.

  • Guy Torelli

    Fabulous article, and thank you for clarifying what the Puritan’s stood for. For me it reinforced the wisdom and practicality of our Christian heritage and made me proud of the Puritans. I’m going to share this with family next week at Thanksgiving.

    A better title might be “Some Puritan Advice For All Of Us.”