Although August 7 is the real midpoint of summer, the traditional celebration in many northern European countries is August 1, known a Lammas, the day when bread, made from the first fruits of harvest, wheat, barley, or corn, is brought to church and blessed. This celebration was designed to counteract an old pagan holiday on August 1.
We in our modern day, not bound to August, have been eating peaches, plums, and blueberries, to name a few, for little more than a month now. The fruits we love are picked by farmworkers, at least half of whom are undocumented. Many are women, and some are children, as young as 10 or 12.
A recent study shows that about 33 children are injured daily as farmworkers. Current law states that they can only work with parental permission, but unscrupulous employers pressure parents to let children work; they are paid less than their parents are paid, which isn’t very much. Our fruits and veggies don’t come from idealized family farms; most come from industrialized farms. Shouldn’t we consider how better to protect children from such practices?
Prayer for the Day
Needing rivers in the deserts of our hearts,
We come thirsty for you, O God of mercy;
Searching for your grace to well up in us as water from a spring
We ask for tenderness of heart and strength of soul.
Choose us this day, gentle God, and we shall be chosen.
Fill our hearts with your love so we may your witnesses,
As was the One we follow,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Children as young as 12 are being hired to do backbreaking work on US farms, at risk of serious injuries, heat stroke, pesticide poisoning, and even death.
- Margaret Wurth, Human Rights Watch
Farmworkers and their children are some of the most unfairly exploited laborers in our nation. They deserve legal protections, better working conditions, and higher workplace standards to protect their health and safety.
- Raul Grijalva, Member of Congress, Texas
Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud; be gracious to me and answer me!
“Come,” my heart says, “seek God’s face!” Your face, O Lord, do I seek.
Do not hide your face from me.
Psalm 27: 7-9