« Behind the Wheel | Home | Life’s Sudoku Sequences »
Labor Day Meditation
By Scott Harrup | September 1, 2008
Another Labor Day comes to a close. Labor Day has always signaled to me the nearing year’s end. I’ll blink, and it will be Halloween. Another blink, Thanksgiving. Then Christmas and New Year’s.
And Labor Day itself, though supposedly a day off to celebrate the work of the average laborer, usually entails a mad rush around our home. Kind of like the other holidays mentioned above. It seems the more we try to relax on a holiday, the longer the to do list can become.
But Labor Day brings reminders of many blessings as well. I’m employed. I enjoy my work and being with co-workers. My job brings me to the office on average 40 hours a week. (A few generations ago, people had to work six 12-hour days.) I’m blessed with paid sick leave, health insurance, a modest retirement program and paid vacation.
Labor Day also invites me to acknowledge the work of others. Everything I wear or eat, every vehicle I use, every building I inhabit, every faucet I turn on or switch I flip—those and a thousand other things connect me to someone else’s labor.
So this Labor Day is another day I bow my head and say a prayer for the countless people who touch my life and my family. A prayer that also reaches out to those people who don’t share the blessings I’ve just described.
Topics: History, Family Life |
