The Work That Holds Us Together
🛠️ The Work That Holds Us Together
I was raised in a blue-collar family. It is the best thing that ever happened to me. My dad was a very hard worker. He was a mechanic (an electro-plater) at Braniff and then would work on cars many nights after he got home. He had calloused hands with grease that never completely disappeared no matter how hard he scrubbed.
I started working as a paper boy at the age of 13-ish. From the paper route, I eventually worked at Holiday Cleaners due to a friendship with the manager I talked to many days on my route. I even chose to get out of school at noon during my senior year to work there on a work program for some who did not plan to go to college. On my paper route, one of my customers asked me to come to work as an office boy at Glidden Paint Company.
I eventually got promoted to be a paint maker in the plant on the night shift. Later, I became the assistant purchasing agent. I did start college during this time but lost a year when I joined the Texas Air National Guard and became a “weekend warrior.” After Linda graduated from UNT and started teaching, I quit to complete my last two years of college. She also had worked non-stop from her younger years until she retired.
I’ve often said that I may not be the smartest person in the world, but I can outwork just about anyone. Like with many in this world, I find sheer enjoyment in working. To create something, to process something, to feel the satisfaction for a job well done is a reward alone.
So, Labor Day is a meaningful holiday for me. This is my salute. AI helped with some history. LFM
I. Labor Day’s Hidden Roots
Labor Day began not as a vacation but a declaration: Workers matter. The earliest advocates didn’t ask for applause—they asked for justice. The 19th-century labor movement arose in a crucible of exploitation: 14-hour workdays, unsafe mills, child labor, and wages that barely fed a family.
In 1882, 10,000 workers in New York marched—not to protest a war, but to demand dignity in the workplace. It wasn’t until the violent Pullman Strike in 1894, when workers shut down rail traffic across the nation and faced federal troops, that Congress finally acted, making Labor Day a national holiday.
But the meaning of the day has always gone deeper than rest. It has been a cry from the ground: Do you see us?
II. The Divine Rhythm of Work and Rest
Long before factories, strikes, and unions, God ordained labor. The first command given to humanity was to “work the ground and keep it” (Genesis 2:15). Work was not a punishment—it was a partnership. Adam and Eve were not idle in Eden; they were cultivators.
But even in paradise, there was a rhythm: six days of work, one of rest. God Himself rested—not out of exhaustion, but to show us how sacred rest is.
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.” — Mark 2:27
Work is dignified, but so is stopping. Rest is not laziness; it’s an act of faith. It says: I am not God. The world does not depend on my endless output.
III. The Laborers Jesus Saw
Throughout His ministry, Jesus moved among the working class. He did not call religious elites to be His disciples—He called fishermen. He Himself was a carpenter for most of His earthly life. When He told parables, He spoke of vineyard workers, shepherds, sowers, and servants.
And when He spoke to the weary, it was as a worker speaking to workers:
“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28
His kingdom values did not mirror the marketplace. The first were last. The widow’s mite outweighed the rich man’s gift. The one who serves is greatest of all.
What would it mean to bring that vision into our economy today?
IV. The Unfinished Work of Labor Justice
Too often, our systems still devalue the laborer. Some work until their bodies collapse. Others labor invisibly—caring for children, cleaning buildings, stocking shelves—without benefits, praise, or power.
Even in church spaces, we sometimes glorify “calling” only in terms of ministry or leadership. But the Bible does not separate the sacred and the secular that way. Paul writes:
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” — Colossians 3:23
Whether one teaches, welds, drives, prays, or sweeps, it all becomes holy when done with faithfulness.
But faithfulness does not mean accepting injustice. It means confronting it. Like the prophets, we must cry out when wages are withheld (James 5:4), when sabbaths are ignored (Exodus 20:10), when workers are crushed under greed (Amos 8:4–6).
V. Labor Day as Worship
What if Labor Day were not just a long weekend, but an altar? A day to honor those who build bridges, bandage wounds, answer phones, hammer nails, code websites, change diapers, and sweep floors.
What if we lifted up the invisible hands behind visible life?
What if we slowed down enough to give thanks—not just with words, but with wages, policies, and prayers?
What if we remembered that God Himself worked—and called it good?
🕊️ Final Reflection: A Poem for Labor Day
The Hands That Hold the World
Not just the stars or thrones endure,
But hands that scrape, and sew, and cure.
The ones who kneel to fix the gears,
Who mop the floors, who calm the fears.The mother rocking past her shift,
The courier through rain and drift.
The silent saint behind the glass,
Who rings up joy as hours pass.The teacher grading after dark,
The welder throwing up a spark.
The unseen hands, the whispered grace,
That hold the world in every place.So bless the calloused, wrinkled, worn—
The laborers both praised and torn.
For in their work, a truth is shown:
No kingdom stands by kings alone.And may we build, with justice wide,
A world where labor walks with pride.
Where rest is sacred, wages fair—
And every worker knows we care.— Labor Day, 2025
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