At the Thanksgiving table few of us are likely to express thankfulness for hard work—but that’s what Ecclesiastes recommends. Here’s wisdom from Chapter 5: “What I have seen to be good and fitting is to eat and drink and find enjoyment in all the toil with which one toils under the sun.” Toil and its wages are a blessing: “To whom God has given wealth and possessions and power to enjoy them, and to accept his lot and rejoice in his toil—this is the gift of God.”
We mess up when we try to relieve others of toil. One example: According to The Press Democrat of Santa Rosa, Calif., students in a public school district 50 miles north of San Francisco can now earn a passing grade of D with a score of only 20 percent. The district school board accepted the idea that students with zeros get demoralized, so the offer of a readily obtainable passing grade will keep them from giving up. A sole dissenting...