DAY 177: Rightful Aspirations

DAY 177

              Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic         

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

pastorrobert@paxpres.org

Week Twenty-six    Monday 7 September 2020

Labor Day

Rightful Aspirations

Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or  ill, all other lives: so guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful  of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  The Book of Common Prayer: Prayer for Labor Day

I spent a semester and a summer in college as a missionary intern on the Colorado River Indian Reservation in Arizona. I also made short trips to other reservations where I would work in the cotton fields during the day and preach in a church in the evening.  I worked alongside migrant workers - Hispanics, African Americans and whites, all dirt poor, all living in the makeshift shacks provided for them where I visited a few families, dirty mattresses on cement floors, hot plates for cooking, no refrigerators, no indoor plumbing, no AC for relief from the stifling heat.  

What were their “rightful aspirations,” what did they desire, hope for, seek to obtain as a goal? A workable question on a university campus, but for these individuals “give us this day our daily bread” was where they lived. Yet within they were no different from me and looking into their eyes I knew it then and I remember it still.  

On this Labor Day when millions around the world have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic, and millions more work at menial minimum wage tasks, I and most of the people it is my privilege to serve as pastor are income secure, our jobs remaining intact and in place. May we be sensitive to those who have lost their jobs or whose work involves menial tasks, whose “rightful aspirations” haunt them as they seek to provide basic necessities for their families. May the underlined portion of the prayer above find its way into our hearts and remain there.  

Reflective question: Do you know someone who is out of work and hurting? Will you ask the Lord to show you what you can do to help?

Reflective Scripture: Colossians 3:23 – “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord,…”

Reflective hymn: “Hymn for Labor Day” – Michael Morgan (1948-    )

Let us labor in the knowledge that no task can be too small;

That the God who stretched the heavens no less shaped the least of all.

Give us strength, Lord, to accomplish what you set our hands to do,

That by serving those around us, we return the gift to you.