Bishop J. Richard Clarke stated that, “Work is a blessing from God. It is a fundamental principle of salvation, both spiritual and temporal. When Adam was driven from his garden home, he was told that his bread must be produced by his physical toil, by the sweat of his brow. Note carefully the words: “Cursed shall be the ground for thy sake,” (Moses 4:23) that is, for his good or benefit. It would not be easy to master the earth, but that was his challenge and his blessing, as it is ours. We are co-creators with God….This intense commitment to the work ethic is our (LDS) tradition.” Quoted from ‘The Value of Work,’ Bishop J.Richard Clarke, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric.(May 1982 Ensign)
Fortunately, the Lord blessed us with animals to help us do our work. I have always admired horses for their powerful and muscular anatomy and for their willingness and ability to pull heavy loads with apparent ease. I also admire them for their beauty. I have wondered about their stamina. How do they withstand the cold weather? I see them standing in the fields in a foot of snow in mid-winter with expiration coming from their noses in what appears to be a cloud of steam. Some are fortunate to have barns or shelters of one kind or another, and some are destined to stand out year round. The pioneers probably took special care of their horses because they were so dependent on them. They were our ancestors primary means of transportation, as well as their work animals. They plowed the fields, pulled the stumps out of the ground when clearing the land, hauled the logs to build their homes and on and on. There is a story about a farmer who took his old work horse into town every year when the county fair was going on. He would enter him into the Quarter horse races. He was asked why he entered that old plug into the races when he knew he would come in last. His reply was, “Well, I just like to have him lather up in good company.” That happens to be a good reason to attend church on Sundays, so we can get lathered up in good company.
When I was a boy of 12 years of age, a friend’s uncle invited him to work on his farm during the summer haying season in northern Idaho. My friend invited me to come, too. We were to be paid like .50 cents an hour besides our room and board for the couple of weeks we were there. We were up very early and we worked until dusk. Our main job was to stand on top of the hay wagon while the adult males would throw pitchforks full of loose hay onto the wagon. We would walk back and forth on top of the hay and tromp it down so that they could get a lot more hay on each wagon load. The hay was dusty, the days were long and hot, and two twelve year old, sweaty, dirty youth stomped hay all day long. The wagon was loaded when the men pitching the hay onto the wagon could no longer reach high enough, with their forks, to get more on top. When loaded, they would drive the team of horses to the barn where large hay tongs hung from the barn roof. They would drop the tongs down and close it over a bunch of hay on the wagon, then they would pull it up to the loft, swing it into the barn and drop it. We would be inside the barn, tromping again, so they could get as much hay as possible into the barn. Then back out to the field for another load. The team of horses would be hitched up to that wagon all day long while there was hay to be hauled. The horses would pull forward when told and stop when told to ‘whoa’. This team of horses was evenly matched and just huge; they were taller at the middle of their backs than most of the men who were working around them. We were told that they weighed nearly a ton a piece. Work horses are famous for their obedience to their masters, and their ability to work hard and carry heavy loads. Sometimes in life we, too, are asked to bear heavy burdens and to pull loads that we can barely pull.
Elder Matthew Cowley became acquainted with a huge work horse in New Zealand in 1918, where he served for many years as a missionary. That horse was an inspiration to Elder Cowley. Later, a picture of that horse hung in Elder Cowley’s office all the while he served as a member of the Twelve. About a week before he passed away he gave the picture to Elder Glen L. Rudd. He told Elder Rudd that he was given the picture because of his work ethic, the ethic of a ‘work horse.’ A poem entitled “Hard Labor” was later written about that horse, by Elder Galo Ramirez; “He pulls the load, it knows not why except that it’s been told;
This horse, it strains for hidden strength to pull its heavy load. He knows not what is on the load that bears him down this day His master has commanded it; His will he shall obey;
His head is bowed so not to lose an once of energy;
He isn’t proud, of noble birth, he doesn’t seem to be. But in this horse is character; a wisdom in his eyes, His master’s will, he will obey until the day he dies.
“We love thee, O’ dearest Lord, Thy will we will obey.”
We, too, should try to emulate the work horse’s ethic. Not all of us will have the strength or the stamina to pull heavy loads, but all of us should develop the work ethic, for we can all do something to further the Lord’s work. May God bless us all to step up and step forward to perform whatever work we can in this, His kingdom, while on earth.