To All Humankind, Ability: A Meditation for 14 July 2011

 Note: The occasion of this meditation was the graduation ceremony for participants in NOVA, the employer-driven workforce intermediary that finds and trains people for living wage jobs.

I begin this evening by reading from the book of Exodus, chapter 31 (NRSV):

See, I have called by name Bezalel of the tribe of Judah: and I have filled him with Divine Spirit, with ability, intelligence, and knowledge in every kind of craft, to devise artistic designs, to work in gold, silver, and bronze, in cutting stones for setting, and in carving wood, in every kind of craft. Moreover, I have appointed with him Oholiab of the tribe of Dan; and I have given skill to all the skilful, so that they may make all that I have commanded you…

In that passage from the Hebrew Scripture, God tells the people, through the profit Moses, that they not only have work to do, but that God will provide the ability, intelligence, knowledge and skills to do it.

Stone-Cutter's Hands Hold a Rock Chisel Used for Cutting Marble

That particular context a few thousand years ago was the building of the temple, and the skills and abilities God provided included such things as tent-making, stone cutting, wood carving, metal-working, sewing, and pressing oil.

We probably don’t have too many “Bezalels” and “Oholiabs” seated in front of us this evening, and we aren’t—at least not at the moment—charged with building a temple! But we are still called by God to work and even though our technology and our end products have certainly changed, those skills, and all kinds of new skills, are still very much in demand.

Work is from God! Indeed, the very first story in the Hebrew Scripture, the story of the creation of the universe, is the story of God working. And we know that God worked so-o-o hard, that he followed up the creation of the universe by immediately inventing “the weekend”!

When we say, “Thank God, it’s Friday,” we recognize both the gift of work, and the gift of rest, which has meaning precisely because of the gift of work.

The Exodus story doesn’t tell us exactly how the Israelites became, with God’s help, able to build the temple. I’m pretty sure it involved a handful of those with skills and experience teaching and mentoring those who needed it, until a skilled workforce able to get the job done had been created.

Today, our local educational institutions provide much of the training. The institutions of Northern and Central Louisiana Interfaith help find people called to work and to contribute to the welfare of the city, and Interfaith helps mentor those folks through the training process.

NOVA is that all-important intermediary that links employer needs to skilled workers, ready, able, eager to become productive members of their community. And, although she might not look much like a tribal elder, Ms. Juanita Woods functions a lot like one in relationship to these graduates.

Northern & Central Louisiana Interfaith helped create the political will and find the funding to start and continue NOVA because we understand that work is from God, and that all people need the opportunity to provide for themselves and their families, and to contribute to their communities.

At the end of just two years, NOVA graduates have not only transformed their own lives and families, but they are also contributing more than $2 million dollars annually to the economy of Ouachita Parish.

We are contemporary Israelites gathered here this evening to celebrate the achievement of these new NOVA graduates, and to welcome them to the skilled workforce that is so central to the welfare of our communities and region.

AMEN.

Photo above by Raymond Gehman.