THURSDAY AUGUST 29, 2024
SOUTH BOSTON ONLINE
VOLUME XIX- ISSUE 74
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Happy Labor Day
abor was mentioned very early in the Bible. In Genesis, as Adam and Eve were being expelled from Paradise for eating the Forbidden Fruit, God told them, “You shall earn your bread by the sweat of your brow … “. This sounds like a punishment, but when read carefully, it really offers human beings a path to redemption. In the New Testament, the parable of the laborers in the vineyard is an episode in Matthew’s Gospel. It reminds us that like the vineyard laborers, we are all laborers ourselves, but also human beings of equal worth. And St. Paul’s Epistle to Timothy quotes that rhetorical but seriously ongoing question, “For is not the laborer worthy of his hire?” In the late 1800s, that prolific essayist, Pope Leo XIII, wrote extensively about the “Dignity of Labor”. The effort a worker puts into “a good day’s work” is morally
good, he said. And that makes good common sense. Simply stated, a good day’s work earns the person who performed that labor the ability to support a family, help out a friend, and take care of him- or herself. Not bad. If that’s the result of honest labor, then it’s well-earned, in our opinion. This may sound odd to you, but think about Communism, that most difficult 20th Century system of beliefs, for a few moments. Communism, in its writings, described itself as being dedicated to creating a republic of and for workers. Do you recall the May Day observances in what was once the Soviet Union – the USSR? These observances had nothing to do with the Dignity of Labor or with workers. They were military parades staged in Red Square for the benefit of viewers standing on the Kremlin’s balconies. No, Communism (the philosophy of the Continued on Page 4
Rick Winterson Honored
Rick honored by Spoke and local elected officials By Carol Masshardt
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poke Gallery celebrated their supporter, longtime board member, champion of many non-profits and writer, actor, scientist and neighbor, Rick Winterson at No Man’s Land on August 22, 2024. The urban landscape, really a swatch of land once ruefully overgrown and neglected just behind the high school, and now transformed, was an enchanted and fitting place to
honor Rick with youth writing and art adorning the walls and trees. “I’m extremely grateful for this recognition,” said Rick, ever an astute observer, in his brief comments, “but my modest contribution has been multiplied so many times over by Medicine Wheel/Spoke. Look at the young people tonight and their art. It is really something. The gratitude goes to Spoke for what they have done.” Unlikely stories are not Continued on Page 5
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