Sirach (Ecclesiasticus) 38:27-32
So it is with every artisan and master artisan
who labours by night as well as by day;
those who cut the signets of seals,
each is diligent in making a great variety;
they set their heart on painting a lifelike image,
and they are careful to finish their work.
So it is with the smith, sitting by the anvil,
intent on his ironwork;
the breath of the fire melts his flesh,
and he struggles with the heat of the furnace;
the sound of the hammer deafens his ears,
and his eyes are on the pattern of the object.
He sets his heart on finishing his handiwork,
and he is careful to complete its decoration.
So it is with is the potter sitting at his work
and turning the wheel with his feet;
he is always deeply concerned over his products,
and he produces them in quantity.
He moulds the clay with his arm
and makes it pliable with his feet;
he sets his heart on finishing the glazing,
and he takes care in firing the kiln.
All these rely on their hands,
and all are skillful in their own work.
Reflection The August 31st issue of the New Yorker includes an essay titled, “Survival Story: A New York City bus driver faces a pandemic and an uprising.” (p48-55) Terrence Layne is a fifty one year old bus driver, married father of three, who took advantage of 1980s education programs in prison and has worked his way up to shop steward in the NY City Transit Authority. Tuned in to his colleagues terror of contracting Covid-19, one morning in late March Layne stopped his bus on 116th St, put his phone on the dashboard and recorded this message.
“Brothers and sisters. I want to thank you all for stepping up and coming to work today and showing what leadership looks like. We are performing an essential and invaluable task. We are not only delivering hospital personnel to their jobs. What about the person who needs dialysis? What about the person who needs regular cancer treatments? … Ordinarily we are not appreciated, not valued… If no one else recognizes you, know that I do.” Layne posted his message to three transit workers Facebook groups.
Layne explains to the New Yorker interviewer, “ People think of front line workers - the grocery workers, transit workers, first responders, cops, firefighters - as having helped the city get through it. But that’s not what happened. We helped the city survive it.”
“Without (the workers) no city can be inhabited…
Yet they are not sought out for the council of the people…”
These wise words, penned by the teacher and philosopher Joshua one hundred and eighty years before the common era, in what we now refer to as the Wisdom of Sirach or Ecclesiasticus, outlive time in their trustworthiness. Joshua’s wisdom points to the value of craftsmen; ordinary people who “labor by night as well as by day. All these (who) rely on their hands, and … are skillful in their own work.”
Is it not interesting, three times in our wisdom text Joshua spotlights the place in which the craftsperson sets her heart? Artisans “set their heart on painting a lifelike image,” the blacksmith “sets his heart on finishing his handiwork,” and the potter “sets his heart on finishing the glazing.” The artisan is not setting her heart on becoming a ballerina. The blacksmith is not setting his heart on getting rich and securing his retirement. The potter is not setting his heart on becoming a governor or religious official.
Living in the way of wisdom each laborer Joshua commends sets their heart on the thing that is right in front of them. Their attentions are not flying on wings of wild imaginings, heading for fantastical places. They are not distracted by arguments of who is right and who is wrong, whether it is more laudable to be a blacksmith or a potter (translate to today, Republican or Democrat). In the view of wisdom, a person is notable, laudable and esteemed, when they apply the skills they have to the work that is right in front of them. In other words, a person who lives the wayof wisdom consents to who they truly are and applies their skills (their particular gifts and treasure) to the context in which they find themselves.
Today we observe Labor Day, established in the late 19th century by the labor movement to recognize and pay tribute to the often invisible workers who make the United States strong, prosperous and keep her going even in the most titanic times. I believe it is not an overstatement to suggest that the well-being of this country stands on the shoulders of, “All these (who) rely on their hands, and all are skillful in their own work. (Because, as Joshua proclaims) without them no city can be inhabited.”
The opening collect for Labor Day begins, “Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives.” This is a sentence worth pondering. “All that we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives.” Terence Layne reminds his colleagues that their decision to show up and drive their bus means that someone gets to their dialysis appointment or can receive their cancer treatment. Nurses, medical assistants and grocery workers can get to work and tend to strangers needs for food and comfort.
This Labor Day begs us to ask ourselves, “How is my life linked to the people around me? How do my actions effect them, for good or ill? What action will I take today aimed at what is right?”
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