Giving Thanks on Labor Day

Bill Colby, JD
Senior Fellow, Law and Patient Rights
bcolby@PracticalBioethics.org

On September 5, 1882, our country celebrated the first Labor Day. On September 1, 2008 we will pause once again to honor “the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and well-being of our country.”

This week’s E.Alert reports the stories of bioethics – families fighting over life-support, improving healthcare access for the poor, and others – all important stories, all with questions we’ve wrestled before and will again.

To celebrate Labor Day, though, scroll down. There you’ll find a delightful 82nd birthday “card” for our Center colleague, Dr. Rosemary Flanigan, written by Rev. Norman Rotert.

Rosemary is a philosopher. In the famous black-and-white television footage she is one of the nuns in habit marching at front of the protest in Selma after Bloody Sunday. Since the Sixties she has devoted her life to teaching the world about ethics. She’s not the person you want to be in line behind as St. Peter is weighing your good works on earth. (I’d also avoid standing near Father Rotert.)

The spirit of Labor Day, to me, is in the old adage of trying to leave each place we visit a little better for us having been there. That’s what Rosemary does. But she’s not alone.

So on September 1, I’m going to stop and give thanks for the labor of all of the Rosemary Flanigans out there.

Happy Labor Day.

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Link: Sister Rosemary teaches us how to be good people, Kansas City Star, August 23