Labor(s) of Love

I am fully aware of the significance of Labor Day in our country.

Today, however, I have decided to go a bit of a different direction.

This past Thursday, I walked into the “T.V. room” at my parents…

to the sight of my father sitting before a news station…

with tears coursing freely down his cheeks.

Initially, I was horrified.

Upon inquiring of him as to whether or not he was okay…

he managed to emotionally choke out…

“Give me a few minutes to pull myself together…

and then I would love to tell you what I just saw.”

All of my attention was diverted to him…

as I waited patiently…

to hear what had caused this sudden flood of overwhelming emotion.

By now…

all of America is aware…

of the awful hostage situation…

that occurred this past week…

at The Discovery Channel building.

When the crazed individual entered that building…

security immediately issued a mandate…

for employees to lock their office doors.

Later…

they requested that all employees…

make their way quietly to the fire exit staircase…

which fed the parking structure…

so that they would be assured of exiting safely.

The reason my dad was crying so freely…

was because he had witnessed the interview of a woman…

that was employed by Discovery Channel…

and had…

just recently prior to this attack…

broken her leg.

She was in a cast.

Upon being instructed to open their office doors and exit…

she was met near her door by two young men.

She didn’t know either one of them.

With an understandable urgency…

they requested that she join them in the staircase.

She knew how narrow this staircase was…

and that it had switchback turns…

going down to the place…

where they were supposed to exit.

She also knew…

that although her life was in jeopardy…

she wouldn’t physically make it on her own.

She watched from her doorway…

as these same two young men…

headed down the hall towards their goal.

She said a few seconds later…

they both stopped…

turned around…

and came back.

They urged her to come.

She told them to leave her.

The one young man helped her…

get on to the other man’s back.

This young man…

carried her…

down numerous flights of stairs…

around switchback turns…

where the hall was so narrow…

that together…

they barely fit through.

He came to a point…

where he could go no further.

When the three of them stopped…

they came up with a plan…

where these same two young men…

positioned her arms over their shoulders…

and together…

they carried this woman to freedom.

No wonder my father cried!

It made me pause and reflect…

on a statement that I heard Oliver DeMille express…

while attending one of his seminars.

It went something like this:

“When looking back on times of crisis…

large or small…

the media tends to focus solely on the negative.

But I challenge you to find the heros.

The men and women…

who freely and willingly…

lay themselves down…

so that others will flourish and live.”

So today…

will you take a moment…

and reflect with me…

on these featured young men…

as well as others…

who have practiced…

labors of love on behalf of our freedoms?

How about this hero?…

Todd Beamer…

who circumvented even further disaster…

during 9/11?

Or these heroic individuals?…

You get the idea.

While these two images are from the same crisis…

what about wars…

and other times of stress in history…

when ordinary people…

accomplished extraordinary things?

Because they were independent thinkers.

They looked for the good in others.

They exercised faith.

They did what was right.

Don’t try to convince me that America…

is full of nothing but deadbeat…

selfish…

“capitalism-at-all-costs”…

“me and only me”…

individuals.

That is only propagandized…

over-blown…

exaggeration…

when I ponder…

both past and current events…

and reflect on Labor(s) of Love.

Happy Labor Day!