THE JOURNEY CONTINUES: LABOR DAY
From my journey, I will pay honor to the Labor Movement and the contributions its workers have given to the making of America. I associate labor with workers and getting physically tired. Recently on my way to Redwood, I passed by a bridge construction site where I observed men hard at work. It was very hot, and I recalled that I also did bridge construction work, tying rebar throughout my college years. Right off the farm, I entered the work force essentially unskilled and was happy to have the job.
I quickly learned to classify job opportunities in very practical terms: division of labor could easily be broken into two parts — work you could do on the “inside” was a better choice than work you could do on the “outside.” In outside work, there were sub-variables — outside work “sitting down” on a piece of machinery or outside work “standing up.” Any job sitting down was preferred to work that required standing up all day.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, who had adopted a life of idleness and who looked down on manual labor: 1 Thessalonians 4:11(NIV) — “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands. Just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.” Paul meant hard work — manual work.
Oswald Chambers did also when, in his classic devotion book, My Upmost for His Highest, he used drudgery to define how God smiles on folks with enough backbone to get out of bed daily to go to work: “ ‘Drudgery,’ he said, “is one of the finest tests to determine the genuineness of our character. Drudgery is work that is far removed from anything we think of as ideal work. It is the utterly hard, menial, tiresome, and dirty work. And when we experience it, our spirituality is instantly tested. But, as we take up our labor, we find that God, always present with us in the ‘Now’ is there with us while we drudge.” I always honor the memory of my co-worker, Mr. Hernandez, who could only take off half a day from our bridge construction work to “bury my daughter.” Implicitly he said so much more… our pay wasn’t much ($1.10 an hour in 1963), and Mr. Hernandez took pride in providing for his family. He was a follower of Jesus and his family spent Sunday afternoons in church fellowship. He loved and was loved. This man impacted my world view. Matthew 11:29 (NIV) says, “Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.”
The Pandemic has brought us to new classifications of “drudgery” — think of a single mother keeping a job online while also doing all the household chores, cooking and managing her children’s activities and schooling at home. Think of standing on your feet all day moving items onto a conveyor belt to be packaged for shipping from a warehouse. Recall migrants who pick your strawberries, watermelons, and veggies in fields; and the farmers who milk the cows for your carton in the refrigerator; or the meat packers who process animals and fowl in your freezer. Remember the medical staffs and first responders who continue to “drudge on” through the pandemic. Luke 10:7 says, “A laborer is worthy of his hire.” May God bless and keep safe all workers.
