Kuehle: Labor Day Musings

“Let me but do my work from day to day,

In field or forest, at desk or loom,

In roaring market-place, or tranquil room;

Let me but find it in my heart to say

When vagrant wishes beckon me astray,

‘This is my work — my blessing or my doom;

Of all who live, I am the one by whom

This work can best be done in the right way.’

Then shall I see it not too great, too small,

To suit my spirit and to prove my powers;

Then shall I cheerful greet the laboring hours,

And cheerful turn, when the long shadows fall

At eventide, to play and love and rest,

Because I know for me, my work is best.” So wrote, Henry Van Dyke

Labor Day 2018! The tasks we labor at have changed through the years. The fact that millions of people get up and go to work has not changed. Some of us want to work and can’t. Some of us don’t want to work and must. Some enjoy the work they do; others hate the day-to-day grind. Yet, for all of us, Labor Day is a time to get together with family and friends, barbecue on the patio, take that last-minute vacation or just to relax awhile.

The scene is New York City. The time is 1882. The Knights of Labor staged a parade to celebrate the working man. The parade was such a success that parades were also held in 1883 and 1884. George R. Lloyd, a leader in the Knights of Labor, issued a recommendation that parades be held in every major city to celebrate Labor Day.

In February of 1887, Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day a legal holiday, celebrated on the first Saturday in June. Later that same year, Colorado, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts passed legislation making the first Monday in September the legal observance of Labor Day. In 1894, Congress declared Labor Day a nationwide holiday. The rest of the world, however, celebrates Labor Day on May 1 — May Day.

Whatever our attitude toward work, let us determine to do our best work, always.

U.S. Grant said, “Labor disgraces no man; unfortunately, one occasionally finds a man who disgraces labor.”

Each one of us must find our place in the greater picture of life; each of us must discover where our labors fit into that larger picture. Each of us must also determine where God wants us to work.

Frances S. Osgood wrote these profound words:

“Work for some good, be it ever so slowly;

Cherish some flower, be it ever so lowly;

Labor! All labor is noble and holy;

Let thy great deeds be thy prayer to God!”