CHAPTER XXI

THE DIGNITY OF LABOR AND SERVICE

We have been discussing Jesus' ideals of social justice that have thrown light upon many of our practical problems of getting along with people. Now we come to a new section of our course that includes some of the keenest tests of noble character, in various forms of service and self-sacrifice. First, we must think of the practical question of work, that touches every one's life, and has more effect upon character than we often realize.

Do you dislike manual labor?-A professor in the University of Chicago recently gave his class a strange examination. There were seventeen quite personal questions, testing them in many ways to discover whether they were broadly educated, in the best sense of the term. In the list were these two questions: "Can you be highminded and happy in the midst of the drudgeries of life? Do you think washing dishes and hoeing corn as compatible with high thinking as piano playing or golf?"

Can you say "Yes" to these pointed questions? Or do you think such manual labor disagreeable and annoying? Do you avoid it whenever possible? Have you a sneaking notion that manual labor is servile and degrading compared with professional work or other work that does not call for overalls? Do you think it is less honorable? If you are inclined to be ashamed of such work because you imagine it is work only for servants, and you look down on servants, then recall how Jesus honored forever the position of servants by placing himself by their side:

Let the greatest among you be as the younger, and let the leader be like him who serves. For which is considered greater, he who sits at table or the one who waits upon him? Is not he who sits at the table? But my position among you is that of one who waits on others.-Luke 22:26.

How Jesus dignified labor.-Among many nations there has been a strong prejudice against manual labor, partly because in ancient days such work was done by slaves. Most people of wealth and position have avoided manual toil, though Gladstone was a famous user of the woodsman's ax, Louis XVI of France was a skillful locksmith, and Roosevelt was fond of working on his Dakota ranch. All too general is the feeling on the part of snobbish people that it injures one's dignity to work with the hands; so that something of a caste system has grown up among us in some quarters, in which the different trades and professions are classified in order of their social standing, as in India and elsewhere. It is quite unAmerican.

Jesus had no patience with such superficial notions. He taught his friends not to be deceived by such foolish claims to honor, but to look within a man's life and honor him according to his character. As to manual labor, Jesus' work as a carpenter honored that forever. How can anyone who calls himself a Christian be snobbish toward a person who works with his hands, when his own Master used carpenter's tools? Nor can anyone with the ideals of Jesus look down upon servants, when Jesus said, "I am among you as one who waits on others." A person rendering faithful service to you or others deserves your respect and often your gratitude. It is unChristlike to treat him as an inferior.

Love is never too proud to serve. The test of this

is found in every home, where every mother worthy of the name is glad to serve the many needs of the household. So-called menial work has everywhere been ennobled by motherhood; why, then, should anyone feel himself above it? Love is never too proud to serve. Jesus once demonstrated this in a very striking way by a sort of acted parable. It was at the last Passover feast that he celebrated with his twelve disciples in Jerusalem. Evidently, he felt that they were getting snobbish, and needed to learn the lesson of the true dignity of labor.

During supper Jesus, though he knew that the Father had put all things into his hands, rose up from table, stripped to his shirt, and tied a towel round his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to dry them with the towel that was tied around him. When he came to Simon Peter, he objected saying, "Master, are you going to wash my feet?"

So after he had washed their feet, he put on his clothing again, resumed his place at table and asked them: "Do you understand what I have done? You call me Teacher and Master, and rightly, for so I am. If I then, your Master and Teacher, have done this menial service for you, you ought also to help and serve each other.”

In this vivid way Jesus has taught the world that no menial service is too humble for one friend to do for another, for love is never too proud to serve. Surely, those friends of Jesus could never lose the memory of their divine Master's proving his love by washing their weary, travel-stained feet. His example is a warning to snobs and aristocrats that it is positively un-Christian to despise honest labor or treat servants with contempt.

Is work the "curse of Eden"?-Someone has said,

"We used to talk of the dignity of labor; but now we covet the dignity of idleness." Clow says, "We are too apt to covet the lot of the idle rich, the most cursed existence a man can endure." Too many are impressed by the Genesis story of the exile from Eden and not enough impressed by this fine challenge of Jesus:

My Father has been a worker from the beginning until now, and I work.-John 5: 17.

If you are a business girl or a working boy, do you take real satisfaction in your work, or do you find it a bore? Do you look for two hours to closing time and drop your tools the moment the clock strikes or even earlier? Too many workmen cordially hate their work and do as little as possible-barely enough to draw their pay. With the constant demand for a shorter and shorter working day, the aim of labor often seems to be maximum wages for the least possible work. A workman's attitude toward his work affects seriously the quality of the work he does. Unless the spirit of good will is in his work, he is not earning his wage.

Let us find joy in our work, whatever it may be. It should express the best that is in us. It ought to develop our character and increase our self-respect. Whatever be our talent, the joy of wielding power through our work should give us fresh incentive every day. The joy of achievement, of accomplishing something worth while, of producing values, of making something the world needs, is something every skilled artisan has a right to feel. There is the joy of real sport in some kinds of work, and the joy of team-work in other kinds; and in all productive work there is the joy of service, of doing something for humanity. Pity the man who hates his work and thinks it is a curse to him. It may be his fault. His work should