For you and for me this Labor Day weekend is like no other in our lives, (except for 2020). When we are working at the office or virtually at home, our minds are working overtime with worry. With caring for others in unexpected ways. With sleeping disturbed by our anxieties and fears about our safety and the welfare of others. With being deprived of a sense of community and companionship with others because of physical separation. In seeing conflict in our towns, cities, states, and nations which present unprecedented challenges in our One Nation under God. In grieving for those who have died during the Pandemic. In seeing so many children suffer in pediatric wards across the country. In witnessing incivility in the public and private debates whether to mask or not to mask, to receive the vaccine or refuse to get it, and the shaming of those on both sides of the issues. In adapting to address the Coronavirus which changes and challenges us every day. Even for the vaccinated and the masked, due to the Delta variant, millions of us still fear infection if we simply go to the store, dine out with friends or attend in-person church services. The list goes on and on doesn’t it?
Labor Day weekend last year in 2020 was a big change for me and my family. Because Dorothy and I lived in a three-generational home with our beloved daughter and three school-aged grandchildren, we moved to our bay home, Camp PawPaw, with its beautiful view of Tres Palacios Bay. The beauty of the bay did not compare with being with those we loved each day. For over five months we lived at Camp PawPaw separated from those we love in order to protect ourselves from harm. Dorothy and I celebrated New Year’s Eve by getting the Moderna vaccine. After our second dose, we returned home.
Getting the vaccine seemed like a miracle. We believed we were finally stepping out of the dark and into the light. Immediately, our lives would return to normal. Like you, that’s not what happened. What will the new normal look like? For now, only God knows the answer to that question.
None of us like the changes forced upon us, do we? The Coronavirus is nimble and changes every day. Yet, it is a relief to know that God’s love never changes and that God goes wherever we go to help us find peace. To restore ourselves. To accept things that we cannot change. To make the best of things at the worst of times.
For you and for me on this Labor Day weekend in 2021, just how much do we all need to find ways to rest our minds, our bodies, and our souls? Where do we turn for that?
God has spoken to us in Scripture about where to turn.
Scripture in Psalm 62:1:
My soul finds rest in God alone…..
So, this Labor Day weekend and every day which follows in this troubled time of Pandemic, and to quiet the conflict within us, please let us remember to pray. In prayer, we can surely find all the rest we need. From our labors. To replenish ourselves and one another. To find the strength to carry on. To renew our gratitude to God for the fruits of our labors given to us in God’s Love and Grace. Let us pray together.
God, we praise You for giving us minds, hands, and hearts to earn a living and support those who depend on us.
God, please help us to be mindful that You are not just with us on Sundays but all the days of the week.
God, in thanksgiving to You, may we use the fruits of our labors to make a difference for those who are out of work, without food or shelter, or are less fortunate.
Please help us to remember to give more to those who have less. To think of the safety and protection of others as much as ourselves.
May we strive to labor in ways that always please You. When we find our labor’s rest, may we take the time to be with You in prayer.
Last, we pray that, when our work in service to You is done, we will find eternal and everlasting rest from our labors with You in Heaven. Amen.
If you like this prayer, please share.
If you want to purchase for yourself or a friend a copy of Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love or Prayerful Passages: Asking God’s Help in Reconciliation, Separation or Divorce, please click on here to go to Amazon.
Jack H. Emmott is a Senior Counsel of Gray, Reed & McGraw, LLP, a 145-lawyer full-service firm in Houston, Dallas, and Waco, Texas, a Board-Certified Family Law and Master Credentialed Collaborative Law Professional Divorce Attorney, Mediator, Author, Entrepreneur, and Inspirational Speaker. For more information about Jack or his latest book, Bending Angels: Living Messengers of God’s Love, go to the Bending Angel website.