Prayer for Labor Day

God whose labor led to light and growth,

darkness and nurturing,

creatures of sea and all crawling things on the earth;

God whose labor led to all life and all beauty;

God whose labor culminated in Sabbath rest,

laying down the beautiful and hard work of that week:

help us also to lay down

the labor of our weeks

in Sabbath rest.

Help us to meet in silence and song,

hearing your Word speaking anew to our needful spirits.

Help us to release our many cares

into your and one another’s keeping.

Help us to find renewal from our burdens,

the sorrows and fears that weigh on us,

the tragedies marring the world’s beauty.

Guide us to Sabbath rest, O God—

And once we have experienced its settling—

once we have been refreshed in its healing—

lead us into work once again:

         the work of healing others,

and co-creating the Shalom of your dreaming.