Occupational Hazards

Whoever digs a pit may fall into it; 
whoever breaks through a wall may be bitten by a snake.
Whoever quarries stones may be injured by them;
whoever splits logs may be endangered by them.*

These are occupational hazards and all occupations have them, some more than others. It’s a fact of life: There’s potential for life-threatening danger lurking at the edges of just about everything. A look at records for employment compensation insurance would likely provide a litany.

But do we not do things just because there’s a little danger? Too much caution could keep us all day in our bedroom. (And who knows what could happen there?)

The other extreme is a “devil may care” attitude, one that can bring swift consequences that the devil himself would delight in.

Ecclesiastes isn’t warning against the dangers of life, only that life has dangers. And that those dangers are right in the line of what we do.

At least we know the kind they are. He who plays baseball could get hit by a ball, but he won’t drown . . . unless he’s a swimmer; then he could.

When Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin was killed by a stingray, it was tragic, but not inconsistent with his occupation. When Houdini survived all manner of death defying situations in chains and locked cabinets under water and then died from a punch in the stomach, that was non-sequitur.

But non-sequiturs happen too. We just can’t be on our guard about them.

Our dangers are consistent with our activities. The wise will be aware of them and take precautions.

But not too much.

One day we’ll all die from living.

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*Ecclesiastes 10:8-9

Next, we’ll be traveling in Baja California, Mexico for about a week, so there’s no saying whether we’ll have regular Blank Slates. Meantime, we’re aware there are hazards, but go we must (and want to) just the same.