Labor Day

As I was growing up in Southern California, I learned about Labor Day in school; however, at times I confused it with Armistice Day because my sister Janice was born on Armistice Day -- which was renamed Veteran's Day in 1954. That made things worse: for how could Janice be born on Veteran's Day when she was actually born on Armistice Day. Are you dizzy yet?

As a child, I easily became confused.

Let's get back to Labor Day.

The Linzey family has a current memory of Labor Day. On Aug. 31, 2012, our oldest son, Ron, and his family came to visit over the Labor Day weekend. We had a great time with Ron, Tanya, and their 12 kids. On Monday, Sept. 3, Ron said, "Well, we better get going. The new baby is due in three weeks and we have some preparations to make." So they loaded up the van and headed back toward Oklahoma City.

They hadn't been gone long when the van pulled back onto our driveway. Ron said, "For some reason, baby has decided to be born now. May we spend the night?" And a new memory was created: Little Daniel was born within the hour -- on our bed -- on "Labor" Day.

Although most Americans observe Labor Day as a holiday, some are aware of the meaning of the day. What are some of your memories? While you're thinking, let me share some historical data with you. We won't discuss Jolly Old England, but will stick with the U.S. of A.

This day is a celebration of the American labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers. It's an annual tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country. But if we look at it objectively, we should not celebrate labor OVER management or company owners. No; our achievements are a product of overall cooperation between management and laborers. But we did have quite a time getting things straightened out between the two sides as labor unions became politically oriented; however, without business organizations, laborers are not needed, and without laborers, business organizations could not exist. But someone had to be the authority over the workplace. Although that necessarily fell to management, the compromise was that labor became a cooperative partner.

There have been many labor disputes, such as the massive "Pullman Strike" and the poorly named "Haymarket Massacre." But not all problems have been between labor and management. Many times the problems were between the laborers themselves and other problems were within management and/or between companies.

Company owners and laborers alike have made mistakes. Some mistakes were based on company greed and others on laborer greed. But both are encompassed in "human greed." Many times laborers had proper grievances, and when cool heads prevailed, problems were resolved. Sometimes it was hard to find those cool heads.

Some of you may have been involved in union strikes. If you have, you know it's seldom an easy task to clearly define the issues, because both sides act like Republicans and Democrats: too often they create their own problems, hide their own ignorance, and blame each other.

But historically, Americans built a strong country. The Pilgrims were diligent workers who believed in and honored God. The United States is a blend of people from around the world, and most of them had a desire to be self-sufficient. They wanted to send word back to their motherland that they were doing well. They detested receiving handouts, but would rather give a helping hand to others. These folk helped to establish a strong, powerful working force that could solve any problem that arose. I applaud them, and hope America will re-establish that mindset and resolve today.

But we as a nation have become like I was as a child: we have become confused. Having grown up in the 19th century, we regressed in the 20th.

I matured because I received a Biblical work ethic from my father who also taught me to believe in Jesus Christ. But America has forsaken our Biblical heritage, rejected a foundational work ethic, and is floating precariously down the river of shame and disgrace. As a nation, we are in trouble.

Our only hope to become stabilized is to re-establish our foundational belief in God and live according to Biblical principles.

-- Gene Linzey is a speaker, author, and former pastor. Send comments and questions to [email protected]. The opinions expressed are those of the author.