Laboring for God

By Tyler Tankersley

In 1894, President Grover Cleveland declared the first Monday of September as a day to honor the role of labor in American life.

He issued this decree six days after the end of the Pullman Strike in Chicago in which railroad workers were lobbying for better work conditions.

This is still the reason why we rest on Labor Day to celebrate and reflect upon the fruits of our work life.

Many of us will celebrate Labor Day by hosting or attending one of the last summer barbecues in our neighborhood.

Our labor is an important part of our cultural identity. Usually the second, if not the first, question we are asked when first meeting someone is: "So, what do you do?"

We don't like to admit this, but our culture often assigns people personal worth based on how valuable we deem their job.

There are some things involving work that unite us all, however.

In the creation story found in Genesis, all of humanity is given a vocation: "The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it" (Genesis 2:15).

The man is given the task of caring for the garden.

The Hebrew word pair used here for "work it" and "keep it" can refer to either gardening or shepherding.

The first man in the Garden of Eden was given the vocation of watching over and nurturing the land.

We still have a calling to partner with God in helping to work, cultivate, grow and protect the corner of God's garden in which we dwell.

In his commentary on Genesis, Miguel De La Torre writes, "The ancient question, 'Why do I exist?' is answered: to partner with God on a task of maintaining the integrity of the planet."

No matter how we may earn our money, we each have a responsibility to make it part of our life's work to bring about God's good kingdom.

Another lesson we can learn from our work is to remain present to God's spirit no matter what our assigned task.

Brother Lawrence served as a Carmelite monk in France during the 17th century.

At his monastery, he often was assigned menial tasks such as cleaning the floors, peeling potatoes and repairing sandals.

During these often-overlooked jobs, however, Brother Lawrence began to see them as an opportunity to serve God's kingdom.

He wrote a little book called "Practice the Presence of God" in which he wrote, "We ought not to be weary of doing little things for the love of God, who regards not the greatness of the work, but the love with which it is performed."

For Brother Lawrence, we can serve God no matter what the work is we are assigned to do.

I am going to try to remember to practice the presence of God as I go about my day-to-day work.

I am going to try to remember to see myself as a gardening shepherd in God's good world.

I invite you to do the same.