{"id":579,"date":"2009-09-06T08:39:29","date_gmt":"2009-09-06T08:39:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/progressiverevival\/2009\/09\/labor-day-prayers.html"},"modified":"2009-09-06T08:39:29","modified_gmt":"2009-09-06T08:39:29","slug":"labor-day-prayers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/2009\/09\/labor-day-prayers.html","title":{"rendered":"Labor Day Prayers"},"content":{"rendered":"
On this Labor Day try something different – pray for rights and justice for all who work and the dignity and the\u00a0success\u00a0of all who are seeking work. \u00a0<\/div>\n
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Creating God,\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
You made the heavens and the earth and your work was Good and we praise you. May we continue your good work through our own labor – helping to create your kingdom on earth as in heaven. \u00a0We pray on this Labor Day for all those who work. \u00a0Whether in the school, the factory, the mines, \u00a0the armed services, the business office, government or on the farm may all workers carry themselves with honor, know the respect of their managers, be kept safe from harm, and be well paid for hard work so that they might provide for their family and loved ones. \u00a0God help us not to pit workers of one nation against those of another nation so that one must suffer if another thrives. Rather help us to create work in concert so that workers of all nations might mutually prosper with decent wages for decent work. \u00a0Today we also pray for those who are unemployed or underemployed. \u00a0May they not become discouraged; may they continue to find ways to learn and grow in their time out of work. \u00a0Help us as a nation to continue to provide for those who are suffering from unemployment so that they do not lose hearth and home. \u00a0May those out of work experience tangible evidence of our support and may meaningful work come quickly.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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May all the labors of our lives benefit your creation so that we might be co-creators of your world filled with peace and enough for all. \u00a0Amen<\/span><\/div>\n

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And now for a little history of Labor day and the impact of the progressive movement. \u00a0It is sometimes hard to remember that Labor Day wasn’t created to be a holiday time of cookouts and beach visits, it was formed in 1894 to recognize the importance of labor in the industrial revolution and to celebrate the value and the rights of the working class within American society. \u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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As History.com explains the history of labor day:<\/a><\/div>\n
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As the\u00a0Industrial Revolution<\/a>\u00a0took hold of the nation, the average American in the late 1800s worked 12-hour days, seven days a week in order to make a basic living. Children were also working, as they provided cheap labor to employers and laws against child labor were not strongly enforced.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


<\/span>With the long hours and terrible working conditions, American unions became more prominent and voiced their demands for a better way of life. On Tuesday September 5, 1882, 10,000 workers marched from city hall to Union Square in New York City, holding the first-ever Labor Day parade. Participants took an upaid day-off to honor the workers of America, as well as vocalize issues they had with employers. As years passed, more states began to hold these parades, but Congress would not legalize the holiday until 12 years later.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


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100 years later we have seen progress largely due to laws that regulate labor practices preventing child labor, a 40 hour work week, unemployment compensation, and minimum wage that allowed for the rise of the middle class that might also enjoy the common wealth of the industry they made possible. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n


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The progressive church in the late 19th and early 20th century played an important role in labor’s struggles as a promoter of justice for workers while\u00a0appealing to the\u00a0conscience\u00a0of the owning class. \u00a0In a time of class conflict the church did not look to Marx for inspiration but to Jesus. \u00a0 The leaders of the progressive church movement, which included my great grandfather Walter Rauschenbusch, rejected calls for violent revolution and promoted an evolution of increased equality. \u00a0 They understood the pernicious sin of selfishness but believed in the power of prayer to change hearts and devotion to God’s will to overcome sin.\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n

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Here are links to a couple of prayers that my great grandfather wrote from his collection of prayers called Prayers for the Social Awakening<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n

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You can read all of the prayers on this google book (scroll down for a listing of the prayers)<\/span><\/div>\n
A Prayer for Working Men<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
(excerpt)…And may the upward climb of Labor, its defeats and its victories, in the f
\narther reaches bless all classes of our nation, and build up for the republic of the future a great body of workers, strong of limb, clear of mind, fair in temper, glad to labor,\u00a0conscious\u00a0of their worth, and striving together for the final\u00a0brotherhood\u00a0of all men. \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
A Prayer for Employers<\/a><\/span><\/div>\n
(excerpt)l..suffer not the heavenly light of compassion for the weak and the old to be quenched in their hearts. \u00a0When they are tempted to follow the ruthless ways of others, and to sacrifice human health and life for profit, do thou strengthen their will in teh hour of need and bring to naught the counsels of the heartless.<\/span><\/div>\n
A Prayer for Men of Business<\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
(except)…grant them far sighted patriotism to subordinate their profits to the public weal, and a steadfast determination to transform the disorder of the present into the nobler and freer harmony of he future.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Happy Labor Day!!!<\/div>\n

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\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On this Labor Day try something different – pray for rights and justice for all who work and the dignity and the\u00a0success\u00a0of all who are seeking work. \u00a0 Creating God,\u00a0 You made the heavens and the earth and your work was Good and we praise you. May we continue your good work through our own…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":51,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[307,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-prayer-and-ritual","category-religion-in-the-public-square"],"yoast_head":"\nLabor Day Prayers - Progressive Revival<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/2009\/09\/labor-day-prayers.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Labor Day Prayers - Progressive Revival\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On this Labor Day try something different – pray for rights and justice for all who work and the dignity and the\u00a0success\u00a0of all who are seeking work. \u00a0 Creating God,\u00a0 You made the heavens and the earth and your work was Good and we praise you. 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Paul B. Raushenbush is the moderator of the Progressive Revival blog and the Associate Dean of Religious Life at Princeton University. .An ordained American Baptist minister, Rev. Raushenbush speaks and preaches at colleges, churches and institutes around the country including the College of Preachers at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C., The Chautauqua Institute in upstate New York, and the New America Foundation. Rev. Raushenbush has served at Seattle First Baptist Church, the Presbyterian Chaplaincy at Columbia University and as College and Young Adult Minister at The Riverside Church in New York City. He has appeared on ABC World News Tonight and is a repeated guest on CNN. He has been quoted in The New York Times and The Washington Post and is a contributing editor for Beliefnet.com. His first book, Teen Spirit: One World, Many Faiths (HCI) was released in the Fall of 2004. He is the editor of the 100th Anniversary edition of Walter Rauschenbusch\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s book Christianity and the Social Crisis \u00e2\u20ac\u201c In the 21st Century (HarperOne). His work at Princeton includes strengthening the interfaith community on campus. He is the Co-Director of the Program on Religion, Diplomacy and International Relations at The Liechtenstein Institute on Self Determination at Princeton University. Rev. Raushenbush studied religion at Macalester College before attending Union Theological Seminary in New York City where he graduated with distinction.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/author\/praushenbush"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/51"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/progressiverevival\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}