The Old Testament Reading for today comes from Ecclus. 38:24-34.  The writer begins by describing the virtue of being a scribe: he has the time to acquire wisdom.  How can craftsmen pursue the same goal, he wonders, if they must devote all their time to their labors? But ultimately he acknowledges that the efforts of the plowman and the blacksmith and others hold the world together.  "But they keep stable the fabric of the world and their prayer is in the practice of their trade."

The Gospel reading comes from Luke 12:49-59.  There, Jesus emphasizes his purpose: not just to make everybody feel better, but to preach to the world a truth that will set it on edge.  What is happening and about to happen in the history of God's interaction ought to be plain enough to them, he tells his listeners.  If they can discern the weather by looking at the sky, then surely they can understand their spiritual climate in light of what they see happening before them.    He urges them to stay focused on the tasks at hand and not to be distracted by personal slights and conflicts, given the spiritual conflict at hand. 

The New Testament Reading for today comes from Rev. 14:1-13.  In it, there is a great, cosmic warning against falling away from the path that God would follow: there is a great exhortation to endurance.  At the end of the reading, the prophet writes, "And I heard a voice from heaven saying, 'Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth. 'Blessed indeed,' says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!'"

May we let our daily labors become our prayers, and may our focus be on the spiritual tasks at hand, with no distractions from less important, selfish things.   May we endure so that we die in the labors that God has set for us.