Labor Day nowadays
is a long weekend marking the end of summer, and a good time for malls to spring
big sales on us. When it began in the
late 1800’s, Labor Day was a day for parades seriously devoted to labor, public
readings on the virtues of jobs, and organizing to improve working conditions. What is a Christian to do with Labor Day
during this election season?
I like this: the
U.S. Department of Labor defines Labor Day as “a yearly national tribute to the
contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of
our country.” In this series, we’ve been
suggesting ways we can maintain a spiritual equilibrium in a very angry,
confusing, depressing political environment, and also ways we might make
contributions to the fixing of politics in America. I wonder if the greatest labor God tasks us
with, though, is prayer.
And don’t take that in an overly pious
way! Prayer isn’t closing our eyes to
the troubles of the world, or an abdication of responsibility, leaving it in
God’s hands. If we pray, we listen – and
God will be inviting us to some pretty daunting, unselfish acts.
So during this political season, we begin
with prayer – and first of all, for me – or you, my beloved reader! Pray for your self, your soul, your
holiness. Pray – not for my way to prevail, but for God’s way,
and for God to have God’s way in me. If
I am bitter, or anxious, maybe I’m shutting God’s Spirit out and not letting
mercy’s healing work do its thing.
Then look at our elected officials, and also
the wannabes. The Episcopalian Book of Common Prayer prescribes regular
prayers for the President, by name, whoever that President might be. What if we citizens redirected our annoyed
griping about a bumbling politician or about a policy or party or candidacy
that seems flawed into praying for that politician? Instead of stewing inwardly or launching into
tirades or grimacing in agony, what if we prayed for him or her, or for
whomever is impacted by what’s unfolding? If we believe in God, then we surely
would believe prayer might be a healthier, more constructive activity. Prayer could be our great gift to American
politics – or as the Department of Labor puts it, our great contribution “to
the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country.
FYI: Earlier
installments in this series are archived here.
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