Today is Labor Day 2020. I never paid much attention to why we celebrate it other than assuming it was a day off from labor—which made it sort of ironic. But since I am writing a blog and am always looking for material, I thought it would make a good topic for today.

At the height of the Industrial Revolution in the United States, the average American worked 12-hour days, six- or seven-day weeks, including children as young as 5 or 6. (It wasn’t until September 1916 that our modern eight-hour work day was established.) Labor unions grew more powerful and began organizing strikes and rallies to protest poor conditions and to demand better hours and pay from employers.

Peter J. McGuire, a carpenter and labor union leader who founded the United Brotherhood of Carpenters in 1881, is generally credited with the idea for Labor Day. He proposed his idea to New York’s Central Labor Union early in 1882, writing that Labor Day would “pay homage to those who from the rude nature have delved and carved all the comfort and grandeur we behold.” Specifically, he said, “the day should first be celebrated by a street parade, which would publicly show the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations.” The parade would be followed by a picnic.

The first Labor Day was held on September 5, 1882 in New York City. Some 10,000 workers marched in a parade held at Union Square in Manhattan. The New York parade grew larger each year, other states and municipalities held their own parades, and some states began to adopt legislation to recognize Labor Day.

By 1894, 23 more states had adopted the holiday. Congress passed an act that year making the first Monday in September Labor Day, a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories. On June 28, 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed the bill into law (partly as a conciliatory gesture in the wake of the Pullman Strike).

Since then Labor Day has been celebrated annually in U.S., but has transitioned largely into a celebration of the end of summer (and one more opportunity for retail sales!). I treat it pretty much as it is—a day off for the working man.

Scripture teaches us that work is a natural purpose of mankind. After creating Adam, Genesis 2:15 tells us that “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Of course, in the wake of their sin, work got a lot harder:

“Cursed is the ground because of you;
    through painful toil you will eat food from it
    all the days of your life.
It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
    and you will eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your brow
    you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
    since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
    and to dust you will return.”

Genesis 3:17-19

Most of us don’t work the ground today, the agricultural economy being largely behind us. I’m grateful for that, since my prime physical days are also largely behind me. I’m with the manager who loses his job and says, “What do I do now? My boss is taking away my job and I’m not strong enough to dig” (see Luke 16:1-9). Most of us who work realize that our jobs are filled with difficulties, whether they are tasks, relationships, procedures, processes or expectations. And, given the national lockdown of the last six months, many of us have lost our jobs.

But Solomon reminds us that, “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God” (Ecc. 2:24). If you have a job, be grateful. If you don’t have a job, don’t be embarrassed to ask the Lord for one.

So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:31-33

Enjoy your day off.

Photo by Anamul Rezwan from Pexels

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A Personal Note
I write five days a week on personal time because it’s one way I can contribute to strengthening the resolve of Christians, conservatives and other like-minded compatriots in the face of unprecedented division in our country. I would like to eventually do more. If you like what you’re reading and think others would benefit from it, please consider regularly sharing and commenting on my posts. Also invite your friends to subscribe. They can do that right on the home page. Thanks for reading! — Dave