Labor Day
Happy Labor Day! Some of the most beautiful prayers in The Book of Common Prayer are about labor, vocation, and our dependence on one another.
For example:
The Collect for Labor Day, BCP 261
Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
And this one from An Order for Compline, BCP 134 (bed-time prayers):
O God, your unfailing providence sustains the world we live in and the life we live: Watch over those, both night and day, who work while others sleep, and grant that we may never forget that our common life depends upon each other's toil; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Work becomes “vocation” when it is done with a sense of higher purpose. Work isn’t simply toil when it is done from the heart - when it is done with love. We call such meaningful work “a labor of love.” A job done with love becomes a vocation, and a true labor of love!
