A Jubilant Mood
The Canadian ship Kamsack had been through a rough deployment. Days of mountainous seas and freezing rain had sapped the crew’s strength and spirit. Sent to rescue a torpedoed ship under the worst possible conditions, they had labored and suffered at their duty stations aboard the small corvette. Frank Curry described his feelings as this ordeal came to an end on Christmas Eve:
We staggered into Sydney harbour this Christmas Eve, feeling pretty good about accomplishing our mission. What a feeling to tie up securely to a jetty where everything is still—the crew in a jubilant mood, and I am no exception. Make and mend in the afternoon and we spent it cleaning our mess decks. Duty watch for me—on Quartermaster from 20002400, and I saw Christmas Day come in from the frozen gangway. Celebrated by taking a hot shower and climbing into my hammock at 0100.114
There are few satisfactions like that of successfully completing a difficult job. This wartime sailor ushered in Christmas Day in pretty miserable conditions on a small and battered ship, but he nevertheless knew that he was safe and warm and that he and his fellow crewmen had accomplished a difficult task under almost impossible conditions.
One of my mother’s favorite sayings was, “Happiness is a byproduct of duty well performed.” Her point was that happiness is not found as an end in itself. It finds us when we do what we’re supposed to do. This was certainly the case with these sailors of the Kamsack . In Colossians Paul exhorts us to work at our duties with all our hearts, recognizing two things: first, that this kind of effort will be rewarded by the Lord, and second, that we are really serving Jesus Christ with our work (Colossians 3:23–24). If we can remember this as we diligently do our jobs, happiness will indeed be the wonderful byproduct of our work!
Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
—Colossians 3:23–24