You can tell me I am odd. I want you to feel at ease saying to me, "Father I did not like that." You can even says Father I don’t like you. What you probably what to be careful about saying to me is: Father, I wish you had said more .. about. Oh, dear. What I do with an invitation like that! Here’s more. What the woman who said that was referring to was an article I wrote for last year's September ANGELUS, our parish newsletter. I quoted the Collect for Labor Day, and commented on it in two or three paragraphs. You know, I probably should have said more. Here it is. A year later. Because that Collect is superb, and almost never heard. And for the good reason that it is almost never used. The Episcopal Church doesn't quite know what to do with Labor Day, it seems. It is not a Holy Day. It is a holiday, a national holiday. And it is a wonderful day, the start of Fall really. Times have changed, but when I was young, it was an inviolate boundary - on one side Summer on the other side Fall. School never began until the Tuesday after Labor Day. It was and still is surely the last great weekend of the summer, a time for family and friends to, take time off, spend with each other, go away for a last big outing. And it's focus is a good and noble one, honoring Labor - good, honest, industrious labor. The Episcopal Church has not made it a Church Holy Day, but it does honor it with a Collect, and we will honor the day tomorrow with a simple, quiet Low Mass in the chapel. Too few will hear that Collect unless I use it here today. And what a Collect! "Almighty God, you have so linked our lives one with another that all we do affects, for good or ill, all other lives: So guide us in the work we do, that we may do it not for self alone, but for the common good; and, as we seek a proper return for our own labor, make us mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers, and arouse our concern for those who are out of work; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever." The Collect summons us to so many things in its few brief lines: the knowledge and remembrance that we are all linked one with another, that we ought not to pursue work for selfish goals but for the good of our community (though not ignoring the personal satisfaction we ought to receive), and that we and all others should get a decent return on our labor, bearable working conditions, and it then closes with the recognition of the rightful aspirations of workers and compassion for those who are out of work. If we are to make of this day more than a secular holiday but, as the Church seems to invite, a Holy Day of great moral purpose, we might well pause and reflect and even meditate on our work, what we do in our lives for a living, and for enjoyment, for sustenance, for satisfaction. Are you retired, and working in a less formal and taxable way - what then, was your life or work throughout your working years like? Tommow offers a time perhaps to think back on the good, the enriching, the wonderful satisfaction of our lives, and to let the mist of our memory close over the harder, sadder times of our employment. Or beloved Bible recognizes both states - working and not working (or no longer working), as equally good, holy, blessed, and grace-filled states. Both are commended to Christians, and God himself will tell you which is your calling right now. St. Paul commends industrious active work: "Let him who does not work, not eat." And in another, place: "Mark the example that we are - we were never a burden on you, we always worked to support ourselves when we were among you.” But also, and so sweetly, Jesus says "Consider the lilies of the field, they neither toil nor spin, yet God gives them a splendor greater than Solomon's." He asks us to be gentle, peaceful, calm, restful, like the lilies. In our world, that usually means retirement, or the marvelous blessings of an inheritance, or the help of disability support, or a lovingly generous spouse. Whatever the realities of our lives, we can consider the lilies of the fields. Moreover, who can forget our Lord's poignant comment to Martha, "Martha, Martha you are busy with so many things, one things is needed." Peace, and prayer, and quietly listening to your Lord. Both states are equally grace-filled, both states equally commended and recommended by our Bible, salaried or unsalaried. It must be that both are to be experienced, enjoyed, valued, and highly regarded by Christians at various times in their lives. There is a season, a time for every purpose under Heaven. Yes, a time to work and time to retire and still find a on-going, meaningful contribution to make, when you no longer have to earn a living, And in either state, there are, and must be, times to rest and reflect, neither sowing, or reaping, not toiling or spinning, or being too busy with many things. I used to think it paradoxical, even funny, that Labor Day meant a day when you did not labor. The day appointed to honor work, was a day almost no one worked - unless in emergencies. But know I realize that that is perfect. Labor is honored when we do it, and when we finish it, when we put in the hours, and when we rest from those hours. But the Collect is a challenge, as much as it is an appreciation for the redemptive and essential nature of human labor. It asks things of us, of all of us as Christians. We do not need to take any single perspective or opinion on any political program for fair compensation, for levels of wages, working conditions, merits, visas, and the like - there are good Christians on every side on all of those issues. But what the Collect does ask us is to be "mindful of the rightful aspirations of other workers" Just as we feel now, or felt in years past, that we hope for what is right for us, and would like to receive. Again, without a program endorsed or a political position recommended, the Collect does hope that we will feel and express concern for those who are out of work. Some of you are doubtless in jobs and holding responsibilities that will not allow you to take tomorrow off - but perhaps each of you can still find a time, take the time, at some point in the day, to reflect - spiritually, prayerfully - on the work that society and God, have given you to do, or remembering vividly the work you once did, and giving God thanks for the meaning and satisfaction and return your service brought you, and the provision it made for you and those you love. But also consider, and I suggest, commit to, a time, a different time - a time to spend like Mary, rather than Martha, a time when comfortably and unself-consciously, and without guilt, you simply stop, rest, sit, reflect, spend time in quiet with your Lord and see that time, not as an escape or a shirking, but an accepting of his glorious invitation to "come apart to a quiet place", and find rest and refreshment for your souls. And then, later, in joy, to continue to offer what you offer - to the church, to each other, and yes, to yourself. Regardless of what the official church calendar omits, or overlooks, there is that glorious Collect, and with that as our guide, we can ourselves make this Labor Day, this holiday, a Holy Day.