Word to the Wise
Monday, September 1, 2008 - Labor Day (Monday in the Twenty-second Weeik in Ordinary Time)
[Genesis 1:26 - 2:3 and Matthew 25:14-30]God looked at everything he had made, and he found it very good.
As I write these words, many friends and relatives in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas are worried about losing all that they have worked for to the impact of Hurricane Gustav. They may feel themselves in the position of the Greek mythological character, Sysyphus, who was condemned eternally to roll a stone up a steep hill only to have it slip just short of the top and roll down to the bottom! On Labor Day, the storm is predicted to strike the Louisiana coast, with widespread impact in Mississippi as well as Texas. On a day when we should be celebrating the fruits of human labor and the dignity of human expression found in labor, we may be watching helplessly as those fruits are destroyed by a powerful natural force. Folks in California who live with earthquakes and forest fires, or those who suffered from terrible flooding in the Midwest this year, or those impacted by Hurricane Fay, will be able to understand in a significant way. As painful and frustrating and stressful as the experience may be, it seems to me that in creating the world, God's "work" (which is crowned by the creation of the human person) means that we are "hard wired" to work ourselves. Traditionally, we have been taught that "labor" is a penalty for losing paradise through original sin! The American "dream" looks to a certain number of years of work followed by retirement. My pastoral experience suggests to me that enforced or voluntary idleness eats at the human spirit. If we are made in God's image, we are made to "create" in our own way using the talents God has given us. The gospel scripture from Matthew reminds us of our accountability in that regard. As I pray for all who are in the path of the hurricane, I pray they will not be overwhelmed with discouragement. Whether they return to New Orleans or wherever they live, I pray they can once more rebuild not only homes and businesses but their very lives! The line from Psalm 90 springs to mind: "Prosper the work of our hands!" AMEN
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