Holy Labor

Labor Day weekend always seems to come so quickly, doesn’t it? For children enjoying a summer break, for beach combers still searching for that one, brilliant shell to add to their collection and for those of us who relish a leisurely walk through our neighborhoods in the cool of the early evening, the inevitable approach of fall is always a day early.

Labor Day itself, set aside to honor the workers that keep our country running, is a noble way to complete the season known for relaxation. This weekend reminds us that work can be more than the way we earn income. Work can be, as I once heard quoted, love made visible. Work as a holy endeavor also gives rich meaning to everything we do.

My father, who worked as a manual laborer his whole life, held the belief that our efforts became a part of our physical beings, informing every person with whom we came into contact what we did for a living. Calloused hands meant hard work that demanded strength and focus. Soft hands meant intellectual capabilities were being applied on a daily basis. Conscious conversation, even on a casual level, told my dad that the person with whom he was speaking kept their own counsel, not showing off in how much influence they carried in their workplace.

I paused yesterday, during a meeting with my marketing coach, to ponder something very important that she had shared with me: what we do is not who we are. While not the first time I have encountered that thought, I did hear it differently for where I am at in my life. What I realized was how easy it is for any of us, me included, to hide behind a title or role, rather than claim and articulate how we function in our jobs. What I do is help people realign their beliefs with their daily lives, allowing them to bring deeper purpose, meaning and joy into everything they do, a “spiritual chiropractor” if you will. Recognizing that I am my father’s daughter, I am also keenly aware of how much this work shows up in my life. My intent each day is to put my own spiritual growth first in everything I do, hence keeping my own adjustment process on a steady pace.

For some folks, work is work, life is life, and the two only meet at the intersection of money entering the checkbook and leaving the checkbook. In that space I see and experience more, a holiness of magnificent proportions. My understanding is that God is everywhere, and it is God in whom we live and move and have our being. That said, it is God who directs us in our daily lives, including the work of our hands, minds, hearts and souls. There is no division in the value of these labors, only an understanding that we all contribute to the sacredness of God’s activity here on earth through these labors. Any hierarchical emphasis that exists on what some people do mattering more than others is purely human made. Holiness is a gift from God that permeates everything we do. And, as my father would probably say, informs everyone we meet.

So on this Labor Day it is important that we remember and honor our own work and the work of others as it is shared in this frame of holiness that is God With Us.