Guest post by Fr. Ted Neidlinger, Priest-in-Charge, Christ the King Episcopal Church, Huntington, IN
O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live: Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep, and grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other’s toil; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (BCP. p. 134)
This Collect from the Book of Common Prayer’s service of Compline is, perhaps, not well known by many Episcopalians. The alternate prayer for its place in the service, “Keep watch, Dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep this night…” is so beloved that it seems to invariably be the one selected. This one, though, reminds us of our interdependence. None of can provide all we need for our sustenance or thriving. We lack the skills and resources to produce all that we need. But this prayer helps us to remember that all work, whether done wearing a tie behind a desk, overalls in the repair pit of an auto shop, blue jeans on a construction site or casual wear in a classroom, contributes to the common good. All labor is noble.
On Monday, September 1st, our nation will celebrate Labor Day. While acknowledged as one of our major holidays, it sometimes seems merely significant as the “unofficial end of summer.” Much as Memorial Day in Indiana is Race Day, Labor Day’s importance is too often overlooked. The setting aside of this day as a federal commemoration goes back to 1894, by which time over thirty states were already holding similar celebrations. It was originally an attempt to honor the contributions of labor unions and the labor movement in achieving better working conditions and terms for “working” men and women. By now, I suspect that most of us have forgotten the connection to organized labor and if we do stop to even think about the significance of the day, it is more honoring all work, which is also appropriate.
Can we see labor as a gift of God or only as a burden necessary for our survival? A reading of the second account of creation found in Genesis Chapters 2 and 3 seems to point to labor, especially manual labor, as a curse. After the disobedience of Adam and Eve by eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, God cursed the serpent to spend its days crawling on its belly and eating the dust of the ground. The woman was to experience pain in childbirth. And the man, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it’, cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face, you shall eat bread.” (Genesis 3:17b-19a) Doesn’t make it sound as if work was a gift or something for which to give thanks, does it?
It is not as if that first couple, or we, whom they represent, were created for a life of endless leisure. Earlier in this story it is noted that even before Eve was brought to life as a companion for the man, God placed the man in the garden “to till it and keep it” (Gensis 2:15) There was work to do even in the idyllic setting of Eden. That is because work is part of what gives meaning to life. As much as we enjoy our time off and look forward to weekends and holidays, they are valued only as a respite. I can’t imagine that any of us would really enjoy continuously sitting around eating bon bons (whatever those are.) Rest is important and God recognized that in commending for us a weekly sabbath in which we can recharge ourselves for the demands of the coming week. How do most of us choose to use this discretionary time, though? We take care of the yard, work on the house or do chores. It seems that even when given a choice, we opt for labor.
This Labor Day, then, let’s enjoy time with family and friends, recall the role of the American Labor Movement in achieving reasonable work safety and compensation rules, and give thanks to God for giving us meaningful work by which we can contribute to each other’s needs. Happy Labor Day!
Photo by Christin Hume on Unsplash
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