Labor Day

 

Every trade, craft and profession has an expertise, a skill set that is worth respect. 

Society depends on workers of every variety. Without them our way of life would not work. 

“Their prayer is in their work.” In some small way, whatever honest work we are involved in, we are working alongside God, in partnership with God, in shaping the world and providing for others. (See Sirach [Ecclesiasticus] 38)


This foundational Jewish and then Christian teaching has led, over the centuries, to our civilization in which everyone’s occupation deserves respect and in which each person has the right to be a participating citizen.  This is a remarkable blessing, far from universal in history or today. It is something worth celebrating on Labor Day and every day. 


At our weekend masses we sang two hymns by two remarkable Church of England priest poets, each expressing this profound understanding that each of us has valuable work to do and that through doing it we serve God and one another. 


The first is  New every morning is the love by John Keble. Originally from his immensely popular book of poems The Christian Year, it has been set to music and sung throughout the Anglican Communion. It expresses how our pilgrimage to God is precisely in and through “The trivial round, the common task” of our daily lives. You can find it in the Hymnal 1982, hymn 10 or here.


The second, by the great metaphysical poet and priest George Herbert is Teach me, my God and King.  It begins:


Teach me, my God and King,

in all things thee to see,

and what I do in anything

to do it as for thee.


It is hymn 592 in the Hymnal and you can find it here. 

Both give us words to pray as we live our day-to-day lives for God.