Chaplains on the River

Labor Day weekend is upon us.  The first Labor Day in the United States was in September 1882 in New York City.  It was intended to celerate the contributions of organized labor groups to the economy.  President Grover Cleveland made Labor Day a Federal holiday after violence and deaths during the 1894 Pullman Strike.  The national celebration was hoped to foster a sense of reconciliation and help restore peace and order.  In recent years, Labor Day weekend is recognized as the end of summer, which began on Memorial Day.

As I continue visiting with boat crews and shoreside staff in this hard-working and productive towboat industry, I am very aware that many of us do not feel a sense of reconciliation, peace, and order.  Our fast-paced and increasingly demanding society does not seem to be making life less stressful, but more stressful.  This stress manifests itself in physical ilness, depression and anxiety, bad personal care habits (too much food, alcohol, and tobacco – and not enough exercise and rest), and stressed if not broken relationships. 

So this Labor Day weekend, I want to invite each of us to consider having not just the summer season end, but putting an end to unproductive seasons in our personal lives as well.  Be brave in taking stock of unresolved conflicts in your life, and dealing with them.  In some cases, you may need to deal with another to end the situation. Often, we just need to let go and let some things end.  Like a wound on your skin will not heal if you keep picking at the scab…so it is in our emotional lives.

Summer is ending, and fall is beginning.  Even down here in the South – where our seasons go from hot to hotter to bearable – you can feel a refreshing coolness in the morning and evening air.  As the seasons change, I invite you to join me in allowing a sense of harmony into your life as change is embraced and the past allowed to drift away.  The view on the bank always changes as the boat travels steadily along the river.  Let your life move forward and enjoy the new landscape!

In the Holy Bible, we are told that King Solomon of Israel was the wisest man who ever lived.  In his old age, he wrote a book called “Ecclesiastes” found in the Old Testament.  It contains the reflections of this wise old man as he considers the question of meaning in life.  All of the book is well worth reading, but I especially want to call these words to our attention:

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:  a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, English Standard Version)

So what time is it for you?  On this weekend originally meant to symbolize reconciliation and that now marks the changing of the seasons, will you embrace harmony and peace in your own life instead of conflict and dis-ease?  Will you shed the old unwanted things from your life as leaves will soon be falling from the trees?

For those working this weekend…may your labor be safe.  Know that your work is appreciated.

For those off this weekend…may you enjoy life and not take it for granted.

To all…see you on the river!

Chaplain Mike