Labor activists pushed for a holiday in the nineteenth century to celebrate the American worker. We observe Labor Day each year to recognize America’s social and economic achievements credited to workers past and present. American’s willingness to work contributes to our strength, prosperity, and well-being.

I’m an antique and vintage finder. I love the history of well-built furniture, pottery, lamps, rugs, candlesticks, bowls, dishes, and more. Unlike most goods purchased today, most of these finds were made in America. Perhaps we’ve traded the hard work of our ancestors for an easier way of life. In the process, have we risked losing character building, integrity, morals, values, and ethics?  

From washboards to ringer washers and electric clothes washers, much has changed for homemakers in America. From cooking outdoors in cast iron pots to wood stoves to gas and electric stoves of today, we have an easy life. Heating with wood and coal stoves in poorly insulated homes has become a thing of the past. Fan and air conditioners have been replaced with central heating and cooling.  Many Americans change a thermostat to feel comfortable in their homes, no matter the temperatures outside. Flipping the switch for lights far exceeds lighting candles and lanterns to work and read at night.

Many men and women have worked hard throughout America’s history. Thank God for a willingness to labor to sustain our wonderful nation. In two hundred and forty-eight years, we’ve progressed to the comfortable America we know today. But will that comfort last? Will we be the hard-working humans needed to be self-sufficient, strong, and prosperous? Or are we folding our hands and falling asleep?

Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth, and thy want as an armed man.

Proverbs 6:10 and 11