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| The Value of Labor |
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| 09/04/06 |
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In the United States, the first Monday of September is Labor Day. The day, first celebrated in 1894, honors the work-force in America and their contributions to society. |
Posted on 09/04/2006 9:40:45 AM PDT by Salvation
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| The Value of Labor |
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| 09/04/06 |
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In the United States, the first Monday of September is Labor Day. The day, first celebrated in 1894, honors the work-force in America and their contributions to society. |
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| Monday, September 4, 2006 Labor Day |
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September 04, 2006    Monday of the Twenty-Second Week in Ordinary Time; Labor Day (USA)
Meditation on Work God's fundamental and original intention with regard to man, whom he created in his image and after his likeness, was not withdrawn or canceled out even when man, having broken the original covenant with God, heard the words: "In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread." These words refer to the sometimes heavy toil that from then onward has accompanied human work; but they do not alter the fact that work is the means whereby man achieves that "dominion" which is proper to him over the visible world, by "subjecting" the earth. Toil is something that is universally known, for it is universally experienced. It is familiar to those doing physical work under sometimes exceptionally laborious conditions. It is familiar not only to agricultural workers, who spend long days working the land, which sometimes "bears thorns and thistles," but also to those who work in mines and quarries, to steelworkers at their blast furnaces, to those who work in builders' yards and in construction work, often in danger of injury or death. It is also familiar to those at an intellectual workbench; to scientists; to those who bear the burden of grave responsibility for decisions that will have a vast impact on society. It is familiar to doctors and nurses, who spend days and nights at their patients' bedside. It is familiar to women, who sometimes without proper recognition on the part of society and even of their own families bear the daily burden and responsibility for their homes and the upbringing of their children. It is familiar to all workers and, since work is a universal calling, it is familiar to everyone. And yet in spite of all this toil—perhaps, in a sense, because of it—work is a good thing for man. Even though it bears the mark of a "bonum arduum," in the terminology of St. Thomas, this does not take away the fact that, as such, it is a good thing for man. It is not only good in the sense that it is useful or something to enjoy it is also good as being something worthy, that is to say, something that corresponds to man's dignity, that expresses this dignity and increases it. If one wishes to define more clearly the ethical meaning of work, it is this truth that one must particularly keep in mind. Work is a good thing for man—a good thing for his humanity—because through work man not only transforms nature, adapting it to his own needs, but he also achieves fulfillment as a human being and indeed in a sense becomes "more a human being." Without this consideration it is impossible to understand the meaning of the virtue of industriousness, and more particularly it is impossible to understand why industriousness should be a virtue: For virtue, as a moral habit, is something whereby man becomes good as man. This fact in no way alters our justifiable anxiety that in work, whereby matter gains in nobility, man himself should not experience a lowering of his own dignity. Again, it is well known that it is possible to use work in various ways against man, that it is possible to punish man with the system of forced labor in concentration camps, that work can be made into a means for oppressing man, and that in various ways it is possible to exploit human labor, that is to say, the worker. All this pleads in favor of the moral obligation to link industriousness as a virtue with the social order of work, which will enable man to become in work "more a human being" and not be degraded by it not only because of the wearing out of his physical strength (which, at least up to a certain point, is inevitable), but especially through damage to the dignity and subjectivity that are proper to him. Excerpted from Laborem Exercens Things to Do:
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"'Whoever bids other folks to do right, but gives an evil example by acting the opposite way, is like a foolish weaver who weaves quickly with one hand and unravels the cloth just as quickly with the other.' - St. Thomas More"
That is a cool quote! Thanks!
"Work, then, no matter how mundane or ordinary, is a miraculous and wondrous sacramental on our journey with and to Christ."
People without ambition, goals and a "git 'er done" attitude deserve pity. How empty and unfulfilling the life of a slacker must be! Nothing is a "chore" if you look at it as just part of the whole. And that goes for me and my distain for vaccuming and dusting, LOL! (Don't mind laundry and dishes, though. Go figure.)
Drive a Liberal Crazy; Work Hard and Be Happy!
Happy Labor Day to all hard-working Freepers out there! :)
I like this line, Diana! Thanks!
**Drive a Liberal Crazy; Work Hard and Be Happy!**
Another thought just came to me -- Drive the liberals even crazier by working hard and getting out the conservative and church - attending vote in the upcoming mid-term elections!
LOL! But it is so true!
YOUR WORK IS A GIFT
Work sometimes has a bad reputation in our world. But there is
something worse than work, and that is boredom. At least that is what
Drs. Kathryn Rost and G. Richard Smith of the University of Arkansas
say. After analyzing the mental health of heart attack survivors,
they concluded that one factor which greatly reduced the chances of
depression was going back to work.
And why not? At work we are often around friends, and people with
strong relationships will almost always fare better mentally. But we
humans also need to be useful and productive!
Arthur Kroeger wrote in Quote magazine (August 1994) that his brother
sometimes visited an Anabaptist colony in southern Alberta, Canada.
During one visit he asked leaders how they dealt with the problem of
misbehavior - when people rebelled against the colony's strict rules.
He was told that these people were first asked to correct their
behavior. If they did not respond, they would be given a stern
"talking to."
"But what do you do when all else fails, when somebody stubbornly
refuses to behave?" he pressed.
"Ah," came the reply, "if it comes to that, then we don't give him
anything to do."
The ultimate punishment - don't give them any work! If that doesn't
sound so bad, just ask those who are unemployed how they feel about
not working....
It has been wisely said, "The Lord didn't burden us with work, but
rather blessed us with it." We need to be busy and productive.
Whatever it is you do to make a living - be grateful. Those long
hours and that feeling of exhaustion at the end of the day come from
having something useful to do. Your work is a gift. You are blessed.
"Whatever it is you do to make a living - be grateful. Those long hours and that feeling of exhaustion at the end of the day come from having something useful to do. Your work is a gift. You are blessed."
What a coincidence. I was sitting here, having just finished my day's work, thinking much the same thing...
And saying some prayers of thanks that my earlier prayers -- for work and the strength to do it -- had been answered.
God is good.
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