Nothing but Death and Taxes

I decided to start this post with something iconagraphically American... nothing is certain but death and taxes because it is what started me down the road to a recent realization. (or perhaps it was a realization that had been happening slowly and I only now have words for it.)

We're probably all familiar with the images from Egyptian tombs, like the one to the left from the tomb of Sennedjem, that show daily life as it passes farming, hunting, running errands and performing official duties. The thing is that the Egyptians very firmly believed that in the afterlife things would continue much as they had during life, albeit easier and with less threats of things like famine, drought and disease. An Egyptian farmer would go on to farm the fields of Osiris (The Field of Reeds) though work would be easier and more pleasurable.

This got me to thinking about something very profound in modern culture that seriously impacts a practitioner. Too often in modern society people do jobs they dislike for any number of reasons, money, no desire to look for another, apathy or whatever the issue might be. As a practitioner of the Kemetic faith this could very well mean an eternity doing what you hate (even if it might be easier). This does not sound like a good deal to me.

I need to back track a little now to talk about myself on this journey. When I started studying the 42 Truths of Ma'at or the Negative Confessions or as I affectionately call them the 42 Egyptian Commandments, there was one that stuck with me and that  is about being happy in the duties one must perform. I took this to mean work. Not have I been unhappy in my duties (work). It was that concept about 9 years ago that sent me back to school. Part of my spiritual progression hinged on being happy in the work I do. At the time, I was not very happy.

As life continued I left the study of those 42 comments to look into other things, mostly school work to be honest as it took up much of my time. Slowly, very slowly, I have drifted back to this idea of being happy with your duties... only now I have added "because you will be doing them forever". When those two sentences came together it was the light bulb switching on. There is a current of motivation, discipline and finding, not just a place in society, but your right place in society. The idea that we should just shuffle along until money or retirement gives you other options was just not acceptable any longer. Who wants to spend eternity doing what they hate because they spent a lifetime getting good at it (while still hating it)?

Today, more than others I truly feel the commitment to discipline and action that Kemeticism embraces. It is a good feeling to see that I am on my way to doing those things I love. I truly wouldn't mind having the job I am training for to the ends of time.