A Lesson With Grandchildren About Workers

The Fourth Commandment could be thought of as as
an early example of protection for workers. 

Our grandchildren haven't been able to have their usual Sunday School classes during the pandemic, so I've occasionally had some video sessions with them. Today my "class" consisted of two from Rochester and two from nearby.

Our lesson yesterday was about how important workers around the globe are to our survival and wellbeing, and how in the Genesis "Hymn of Creation" even God "worked," transforming a planet that was empty and dark into a potential paradise. And we noted that in this unspoiled and productive Eden, humans were given the responsibility to "work the ground and to keep it in order." 

We also turned to the book of Exodus, where we are commanded not only to work throughout the week but to observe a weekly day of rest--for ourselves, for members of our family, for others who work for us, for foreign workers--and even to give our work animals a much needed break.

I then had each grandchild choose some object in the room that was not of their own making for a "show and tell" about how that object came to be at their house.

The first showed us his cello, and we talked together about how many different kinds of people have had to work tirelessly at making beautiful instruments like these available for us to play and to enjoy. 

The second chose a shoe, and we reflected on the hundreds of people needed to keep us from having to go without footwear. 

The third chose a wooden three-dimensional tic-tac-toe, and we discussed some of the varieties of people needed to make ordinary toys like this for our enjoyment.

The fourth showed us a pillow, leading to a conversation about its foam material and cotton cloth covering came to be available for our comfort when napping or resting.

Together we tried to imagine the millions of people who work every day at planting, cultivating, weeding, harvesting, mining, hauling, manufacturing, packaging, painting, building, and otherwise making everything around us possible, and how we are each to be a part of this amazing worldwide enterprise of workers throughout our lives. And how we can begin now to help make our households, schools and communities a productive and collaborative part of our common efforts to survive and thrive.

We closed with a parable Jesus told in which a generous employer rewarded each of his workers a living wage even though some had worked all day long and others had been able to find work for only a part of the day. The lesson we draw from it, I suggested, was that God is concerned that each worker be able to earn enough to live on (Matthew 20), as well all workers deserving a regular "shabat," a time for respite and rest (Exodus 20).