The Dignity of All Work

I once had a principal who liked to tell what he believed to be an inspiring story.  His junior high school was right across from a textile mill.  Once, when he was not performing up to expectations, his teacher made him look out the window at the mill and said, "If you don't get good grades, you'll have to spend your life working at the mill." He then, apparently, put his all into his studies so he wouldn't have to livet hat life.  Every time he told this story, I cringed (and not just because my grandmother and brother both worked in textiles) because he was taking dignity from one kind of work in order to inspire another kind.  I didn't have the kind of relationship with him where I could go to him and say, "You should be glad there are people who don't think their above working in textile mills or you would be naked right now," but I always wanted to.

Across the country, the school year is winding down.  Students are graduating from high school, and they are taking a wide variety of paths.  Some students are excitedly celebrating their acceptances to four year universities and already have plans for post-graduate degrees.  Others are nervously waitlisted or accepted on a deferred basis.  Some are going to community college while they take general ed classes and figure out what they want to major in.  Some will get vocational training in a technical school.  Some will begin entry level jobs and work their way up.  Some will wait tables. Some will design the next big video game. 

And some will work in textile mills.

Every kid's path is different.

Let me put it another way for those who need to hear it differently.

Every path is valid; yours is not superior.

The society in which we live is inanely interdependent, and we need people to do all of the jobs.  If your garbage isn't picked up one week, that's inconvenient, but if it isn't picked up for two month, that's horrifying.  Be grateful for your trash collector.  You have a coffee addiction?  It's a good thing there are people who don't see service jobs in coffee shops as something to be sneered at, or you would have to figure out how to do it for yourself.  When you need your air conditioning repaired on a 95 degree day, your son't degree in accounting or contract law won't do you much good, so you are going to shell out good money to someone with skills you don't have.

Let's not forget that college for most is a relatively new thing.  Just one hundred years ago, going to college after high school was the exception, not the rule.  Neither of the Wright brothers graduated high school.  Frederick Douglas wasn't allowed an education.  Yet, those people managed to have great influence through their work. Some of our founding fathers attended college, but not all of them did. Going back farther, Jesus was a carpenter, and Adam and Eve were farmers.  

Let me be clear.  I am not against against people pursuing degrees.  I did.  If what you want to do requires a degree or two or five, I'm all for it. I hope your school prepared you well for that choice.  After all, I don't want a doctor or lawyer or engineer who is "self taught."  I'm saying that it is not the right choice for everyone.

We need all jobs. Not everyone needs to go into debt to get one.

It's an unappreciated truth that some paths are not linear.  You may do one thing for a few years and then make a different choice.  It's always been the case that few people do the thing they majored in for their entire career, and that is becoming increasingly rare in recent years.  Sometimes, interests change.  Other times, market forces and government whims force change.  Injuries, the birth of kids, divorce, aging parents who need care, and a million other things can spark big change.  The idea that a high school senior has their whole life planned out when they graduate is fiction.  When I was in college, I worked as a janitor in an arena and in child care. I was a teacher for 25 years, but between two schools, I worked at a mortgage company.  Now, I work at the YMCA.  All of these jobs helped shape who I am, and the lessons I learned in each of those jobs were carried with me into the next one, making me a better employee and more interesting person.

In 2018, pictures of Geoffrey Owens, who had played Eldin on the Cosby Show, went viral.  Why?  He was bagging groceries at Trader Joe's.  Acting isn't always consistent income, sometimes including long time periods between gigs; so he was making ends meet by working at the grocery chain.  The same people who criticize so called "Hollywood elites" for being out of touch went online and mocked him for doing work they considered beneath themselves.  He praised Trader Joe's as a great place to work and said, "I'm not ashamed of working at the grocery store. No job is better than any other.  Every job is worthwhile and valuable."

What is important is that you do something that is honest, fulfilling for you, and contributes to society in some way. You are meant to honor God with whatever He has put in front of you to do each day, whether that is brain surgery or car repair. Whatever God has given you to do, use it to glorify him and serve others.  The reformer Martin Luther is credited as saying, "A dairy maid can milk cows to the glory of God."  He said that she is "glorifying God just as much as a preacher in a pulpit preaching a sermon."  Civil rights activist Martin Luther King, Jr. described all work as significant, saying, "All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."

After communion each week, my congregation prays the same prayer.  It says, in part, "And now, send us out to do the work you have given us to do."  If we do that, our work has value, dignity, and importance, no matter what it is.

Congratulations to the class of 2025.  Whatever you have chosen to do next, and wherever your path may lead you, do it well.  Use it to glorify God, and serve others.