Unconditional Love

 This past Wednesday I remembered my Mom on what would have been her 104th birthday.

She's  been gone for over 40 years, but the lessons she taught me, and the example of unconditional love resonates with me still. Especially in these days when hate and division are so evident and troubling.

Her guiding principle was to inclusion - accepting everyone and anyone, regardless of who they were, where they were from or how different they might be from you. She had a real sense of responsibility for the common good -to help wherever and whenever she could regardless of how it might affect her.

A couple examples come to mind: Once when I was a teenager there came up the issue of school levies being voted down. We were living in Glendale, Arizona and the schools were always in need of more funds to improve the schools for the families (some middle class and some lower class economically) who had kids. Unfortunately our school district also included the Sun City retirement community, where the residency required age 55 and over, so none of those residents had school age kids. And the general attitude was " I raised my kids already, I shouldn't have to pay for others' kids".

My mom was appalled. She had raised 5 of us kids - I was almost out of the house and off to college, my sisters were all out of the house, so she had no kids in the schools. And yet she felt that providing education for those school kids was a community responsibility. She and my dad were old enough to qualify for residency in Sun City and yet she would not have lived there.. She loved kids, taught kids, and fought for them to be able to get quality education. She was thrilled when Sun City was separated from the Glendale school district and the school levies were finally passed.

Another example came much earlier. My sisters and I were all raised in Portland, Oregon. And we attended a local conservative Baptist church. Our family was much involved in the church, my mom as a teacher and choir member, my dad working with the summer camping program. The church had missionary outreaches to Africa, specifically Cameroon. It was a good church and very supportive of those efforts. But then there was a time when one of the local pastors there visited our church.

My mom overheard some women discussing the presence of the African pastor in the services - in a negative manner. She was appalled and upset at their obvious double standard and discrimination. Oh, it was okay to help churches in Africa, but heaven forbid they visit us! My mom reached out to our visitors and welcomed them. 

For these reasons and many more examples I believe that my mom (and my dad too) would be appalled at the racism and other demeaning accusations thrown around to describe people, communities, and countries today. I don't think that we would always see eye to eye on every issue, but I know that our discussions, and her discussions with others, even with those she disagreed with, would be civil , respectful and rational. And that in all things she would strive to display love and acceptance to all.

She raised me and my sisters that way and we strive to live it out every day. She "practiced what she preached". No matter what I believe that is what we are called to do. Yes, speak up,, speak truth to power, denounce the hateful words. But at the same time treat others as you would want to be treated, with unconditional love..

remember Labor Day

 We are all grateful for holidays, and that most of them are on mondays so we get a 3-day weekend. 

However most of the time we view them only as time off or time for "holiday sales". and we forget the reasons that they are there. And some of them, like Veterans Day, aren't even a paid holiday for everyone.

We tend to see some, like Memorial Day and today, Labor Day, as seasonal markers, rather than what they were originally meant for. Memorial Day, seen as the beginning of summer, was originally set aside as a day for remembering and memorializing those who died in military service of our country, just as Veterans Day (which often is not given as a standard day off for most workers), was set aside to remember all those who served their country in the military. I have family recognized on each day. 

Labor Day, today, was established not as an end to summer, but as a day to remember all who labor and the gains that we all owe to the labor movement in this country. To those who organized, protested dangerous working conditions, and worked hard to change our workplaces for the better. Eight hour days, 40 hr weeks, paid overtime,, the elimination of child labor, workplace safety, and the ability of workers to organize in unions to collectively bargain for better working conditions and improved compensation for their hard labor are just a few of the benefits we have today because of the labor of others who have gone before.

And they persevered, despite harsh resistance from business owners and even government at times. They persevered in the face of government raids, accusations of being unpatriotic and subversive, and other attempts by business to organize against them. They persisted and we need to honor them for it.

So today, as on other holidays, while you are relaxing and enjoying having the day off, remember those who made this day possible and keep vigilant to not let their sacrifices be in vain. Remember especially that you only have any holidays (and paid ones at that) because of what labor organizers have done.