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The Unitarian Universalist Society of Fairhaven, Massachusetts Labor and Sabbath in Partnership Rev. Ann C. Fox |
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We were astounded to hear my father boast, "My girls haven't worked a day in their lives!" At the time, we three sisters were all in our 30's with a combined work history of 55 years! Now what he really meant was that we hadn't worked on factory floors in labor intensive jobs. Although Dad was fiercely proud of his skill and his position as a union boss, he always insisted, "None of you will breathe the dust of the factory floor!" We didn't, but we earned only one-third the wages of our factory-worker peers and we worked more hours than they did for I we were not unionized. In my case, I worked 5-1/2 days. Dad would have liked our responsive reading by Marge Piercy. She says, "I want to be with people who submerge in the task. . . .Who stand in the line and haul in their places. . .Who are not parlor generals…" I think Dad would put his girls amongst the "parlor generals.' Dad was staunchly loyal to the Union. He often said, "If it weren't for the Union, they'd keep us in poverty while they got rich and fat." He was referring to the factory owners. Dad was really harkening back to an earlier time when government had no decent legislation to protect workers or set decent hours. In the reading, we heard that it was courageous workers, even women, who laid their lives on the line to fight for human rights that we all benefit from today. I wonder what Dad would say about the exploitation of workers in Third World Nations by our modern day Captains of Industry! All religions have guidelines for treating workers fairly. In Judaism, we read "You shall not abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether a fellow countryman or a stranger in one of the communities of your land. You must pay him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets, for he is needy and urgently depends upon it." (Deut 24:14,15) In Christianity, we read, "He who plants and he who waters are equal, and each shall receive wages according to his labor." (I Cor 3:8) And in the Koran, we read, "When you hire, compensate the workers and treat them fairly." (PBUH, www.nicwj.org). More than any of these, we have the Jewish creation myth to thank for a day of rest with the words "So God rested on the seventh day and hallowed it." (Gen 2:3) "It was [Emperor] Constantine who, newly converted to Christianity, decreed in the year 321 that all of the Roman Empire would observe Sunday as the Sabbath with the suspension of work and business." (Dame, Quest p.1) So the Sabbath, which means "to rest" (from the Hebrew verb shavot) has its roots in Judaism, although it is also in ancient Babylonian law. (Encarta Encyclopedia) It is the fourth and longest of the Ten Commandments, which says, "Six days shall you labor and do all your work; but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord, in it you shall do no work [or your children or your servants or even your cattle]." (Deut. 5:12) As an aside, have you ever wondered why we have the Sabbath on a Sunday, the first day of the week? For two thousand years, there has been a controversy throughout Europe and the Eastern Christian churches about keeping Sunday as the Sabbath. Men and women have been imprisoned and killed for saying it should be held on the seventh, day, which is Saturday and which scripture clearly supports. The fact is that it was a much-loved pagan Roman holiday and this is the only reason the Christian Sabbath is on Sunday. Protestants said it was a papal decree and nothing more. Anyway, the important thing is that every person must have a day of rest and without work. Now, you might remember that Jesus liked to annoy the legalists in the temple and challenge them on how they were interpreting the law. When they accused him of breaking the Sabbath law by healing someone on that day, he responded, "Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27) He was saying that there are certain necessary things to be done, especially humanitarian things whether it the Sabbath or not. If you grew up in a strict Methodist family or other conservative religion, the Sabbath might have been a solemn day and you had better not laugh or go to the movies on such a day. The Sabbath is meant to be a true rest, whatever that means to you. It is psychologically healthy to have a Sabbath. I'll bet that you enjoyed a restful and fun Sunday in your childhood. No stores were open, not even the corner grocery. In my family, our Sunday revolved around a leisurely morning at home, two o'clock Sunday dinner, and a 3pm TV American movie, often a World War II or cowboy one. We children later went to a church of our choice, usually at 10 am or 5 pm Evensong. My sister went to an evangelical Methodist Church and I went to the low-key Church of England. But on warm summer Sunday afternoons after dinner, we all piled into the old car and went for a drive in the country. My mother worked most of her life but was insistent on a rest at least on Sunday. She used to say, "The work will be here when I'm not." It is interesting that the Jewish Sabbath begins exactly at 4:30 pm on Friday. Jews must stop working exactly at that time whether the task is finished or not. It is time to change to a different "time space" and meaning. When I first came to America, I lived with a Jewish family. I loved to attend share their Sabbath dinner every Friday, complete with sung prayers and challah bread and sweet Manochevitz wine drunk out of silver-plated cups. Even the children had watered down wine. But, in our modern age, we have forgotten how to have a regular day of rest. Some of us even work on Sundays, by choice or necessity. Sabbath doesn't have to be on Sunday, which should really be Saturday. But it is necessary to have a Sabbath! Families need it. Everyone needs it. And some need it to be quiet and reflective. It is psychologically and physically necessary to have some way for renewing ourselves. It could even be split over two days. And parents of young children might give each other a break. Maybe grandparents could give them a break. The cry of Bread and Roses too from the women factory workers was an attempt to reduce their working hours so that they could have a life beyond work, 'smell the roses' so to speak. They always had Sunday off, but their working hours were so long that Sunday must have been spent cleaning, cooking, and washing for the work days ahead. Their complaint, of course, was also mixed with the protest at also doing all the housework while their men rested. My own father shared the housework with his working wife. It was a good model. Through my father, I have a great respect for and appreciation of the work of those who labor hard to give us the food for our table and the necessities of life. So I'm glad we have such a thing as Labor Day to honor courageous workers who were the first to live out our First Principle, "The inherent worth and dignity of every person." At least we have an opportunity to stop and reflect on what Labor Day is all about. But let us not make the Sabbath into an ordinary workday, that which was given us by ancient wisdom. The Sabbath is the friend of the working person and we are all working people. In 'Sabbaths' by Wendell Berry, he says: "Whatever is foreseen in joy Must be lived out from day to day. Vision held open in the dark By our ten thousand days of work. Harvest will fill the barn; for that The hands must ache, the face must sweat. And yet no leaf or grain is filled By work of ours; the field is tilled And left to grace. That we may reap, Great work is done while we're asleep. When we work well, a Sabbath mood Rests on our day, and finds it good." May we labor well. But at some appointed hour, may we honor human dignity by stopping our work and creating a new time, out of ordinary time for rest and renewal. References
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