Labor Day: a chance to rest and reflect.

This is one of those great long weekends, the last hurrah of Summer and the punctuation mark that signals the transition from it to Autumn.  For many, it is the opportunity to make one last trip before the school and work year begins in earnest.  For those who have it off, Labor Day sits outside of time.  That is the beauty of it.  It’s called Labor Day, but the point of the whole thing is to do anything but work.  It’s a fantastic concept; the one time of the year when it is socially acceptable to relax and do nothing more than enjoy the company of friends and family.  We work so hard all the time, but not then.  This is when we take a well-deserved break from the grind and try to enjoy ourselves. 

Labor Day just feels right somehow, doesn’t it?

Well, it feels right because it resonates with a couple of fundamental truths: we were made to work, and we were made to rest.

We were made to work

One of the great virtues of this nation – a virtue that our St. Michael’s community has emulated since its founding one hundred years ago – is its commitment to work hard and to work well.  This virtue does not allow us to see work in purely economic terms; it isn’t just about paying the bills, providing for the family, or having enough to give freely to those in need.  The virtuous worker recognizes and celebrates the sanctifying quality of work done well.  He recognizes that there is something inherently good in applying himself completely – mind, body, and soul – to the application of his craft. 

Why is this?  Why is hard work so satisfying?  I think Genesis 3: 17-19 provides a clue.  That is where God is describing how difficult life will be in the fallen world outside of Eden; the ground is “cursed”, it will take “painful toil” and the lots of “sweat of the brow” to get anything useful out of it, it produces “thorns” and “thistles” along with the harvest vegetables.

The world that was created to cooperate with us for our mutual benefit became a source of difficulty and sometimes even despondency.  King Solomon captures this attitude  in Ecclesiastes (2:22-23); “For what hath man of all his labour, and of the vexation of his heart, wherein he hath laboured under the sun?  For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief; yea, his heart taketh not rest in the night. This is also vanity].  It is also to common to see work in this manner; it doesn’t just break our backs, but our spirits as well.

But here is the point: when we apply ourselves in a certain way, we can reclaim through virtue that was lost through our sin.  When we do this, Creation responds to the image of God within us and bring it [Creation] and us closer to the perfection we were meant to enjoy.  But it’s not just about working harder or working smarter – in order for us to really turn the patch of thorns and thistles we are called to till into a sanctified garden; in order for our work to make us nobler rather than simply tired; in order for it to be something other than vexation and vanity Solomon was spoke of, it must be offered up to the Lord.

If you do the work for yourself, you may keep yourself alive; if you do the work for your family, you may manage to pay your bills; but if you do the work out of Love and dedication to our Lord; if you offer it up – along with every part of your life – to God, then it may still do these things, but it will also bring you joy.  It will bring you the temporary joy of work done well, - after all, we only offer the best of what we have to Glory of Our God - but it will also bring you the lasting joy of one who is being restored to perfection through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ (e.g. 1 Corinthians 10:31; St. John 6:27; Ephesians 6: 5-9).  This is what we were designed for, and when we follow that design, things naturally move toward the glory of God.

We were made to rest

But just as we were made to work hard, we were also made for rest.  This is such an important part of nature of things, that it is included in the first creation story in Genesis.  After applying Himself for six days to His craft, God rested; “Thus the heavens and the earth, and all the host of them, were finished.  And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done.  Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.” 

Genesis was not given to us to provide a mechanistic and materialist description of creation, but rather to teach us the most important things about that creation.  Foremost is that God made the universe - and especially mankind - as an outpouring of His love and perfection.  But the point about God resting is also important.  This is also why God made the rule to “remember the Sabbath and keep it holy” one of the Ten Commandments.  Nor are these historical artifacts.  As our prayer book says (p. 387), “The Orthodox Christian is obligated to follow [these commandments] because they are the foundation of the Old Testament, which was fully realized and fulfilled in Christ”.  Because of the Resurrection, we observe the Sabbath on the 8th Day (Sunday) rather than the 7th (Saturday). 

It occasionally becomes trendy for scientists and journalists to point out the [secular, and thus “real”] benefits of taking a day off.  They tip their hats to the conservative Jews who completely eschew any sort of work, congratulating them in the half mocking sense of “even religion occasionally gets something right.”  This secular recognition of the utility of regular rest dates at least back to the ancient Greeks who recognized the need for rest and recreation in order to live “the good life.”     

We should not be surprised that scientists, journalists, and philosophers appreciate the value of rest to our minds and bodies.  But just as work is not sanctifying unless it is done to the glory of God and His Love; neither is our rest sanctifying unless it is similarly offered up to Him.  And here we must be very specific.  Our Church does not simply instruct us to avoid work on Sunday, but tells us that the proper place for every Christian for at least part of every Sunday is in Church, celebrating the Divine Liturgy.  You can get a certain joy and temporary relief from your burdens just by taking a day off, but if you want to truly redeem the time and enjoy the blessings of life, you need to take that day off and dedicate the best portion to Orthodox worship.  This is what we were made designed for, and when we follow that design, things naturally move toward the glory of God.

We love Labor Day.  It feels right because it resonates with two fundamental truths: we were made to work, and we were made to rest.  But God didn’t create you to limit yourself to enjoying this blessing once a year (for example Genesis doesn’t say, “and on the 365th day, God rested”!).  So make rest – and worship – the beginning and end of every week.