The Joy of Working Hard

Today at breakfast it was announced that there were 12 cords of wood to be moved and stacked into the basement of Lodge Six. During the winter this building is heated entirely by wood. Everyone was asked to help out if they could. At ten am the bell rang and about 40 of us gathered to form a line or chain and to pass wood from one person to the next. My spot in the chain was just inside the basement door and Art was a few people out of that same door.

Everyone who came worked very hard for about two hours. Currently, the village is quite a mix of people. We have about ten men here from the Seattle Compass Center; a non-profit that helps the homeless find resources, food and shelter. These men, along with the compass center staff, village guests and staff all worked hard for about two hours to get this wood in.Each piece was picked up from the pile and handed off to the next person, who passed it off to the next and next until the very last person put it in the neatly stacked pile deep in the bowels of this big building. As we worked, each of us began to be transformed. We lost ourselves in the task and busied our minds with silly songs and jokes. As the wood passed from person to person we all began to become one machine. We all could feel our small piece become important to the final goal.

When we were done, I went up to the dining hall and got a bowl of cereal to eat. I was invigorated and exhausted at the same time. One of the Compass Center men came up to me and in broken English said, "Wood tomorrow, I do!" He spoke for all of of us. Experiencing hard work with others, no matter who they were, was so fulfilling. Everyone is waiting for the next call to work.