There Is Dignity In Labour

AS we mark May Day, it is pertinent to examine the importance of work or labour to our physical and spiritual wellbeing. Labour should be valued as the source of unequalled prosperity, and as a characteristic of a strong and determined people. It is a thing of joy for a man to wake up early in the morning and go to work. Conversely, it is not dignifying for a man to be jobless. When a man is without job, he is restless and uncomfortable. It is expectedly so because when one fails to work, poverty would creep in.

The Holy Bible tells us that God worked for six days and rested on the seventh day. So also, we are called to rest on the Sabbath day, which falls on a Sunday, for most Christians. There is dignity in labour. On the other hand, the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. Many youths in our society today are idling away because there is no work for them to do. Many of them now resort to engaging in manual labour to keep body and soul together. Those who are too proud to bend down, unfortunately, take to robbery and kidnapping in order to lay their hands on quick money. But, sooner than later, the road leads to damnation.

Part of man’s purpose on earth is to be productive. And to do this, he needs to work. Scientists have since proven that the day a man stops to be productive, he begins to die slowly. Our God does not like idleness. No man must be lazy or idle. From the Biblical account of Creation, Adam, right from the on-set, was given the responsibilities of taking care of the whole of Creation. In the 15th verse of Genesis, we read:
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The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.’ (Genesis 1:15).

The 19th and 20th verses give us more insight into the task given to man by God:  ‘Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.  So, the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.’

Very Rev. Msgr. Osu, Director, Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos.