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Last week I went to a local laundromat to wash quilts that were too big for our home washing machine. According to online reviews the attendant (Helen) at this particular laundromat made it one of the best spots in town.

At the laundromat, a young man came in, with no obvious load of laundry. Helen welcomed him and opened the “see attendant for key” restroom, telling him to leave his backpack nearby so she could watch it for him. Not long after he left, having done no laundry, the scene was repeated, this time with a young couple. I came to realize these folks were likely homeless.

The ELCA Social Statement, Sufficient, Sustainable Livelihood for All, says: “We tend to view economic life by how it affects us personally. The cross of Christ challenges Christians to view this arena through the experience of those of us who are impoverished, suffering, broken, betrayed, left out, without hope.”

I can’t help but think about all the Helens out there who take a job and make it their ministry. You might say that Helen and those like her take the secular and make it sacred. How can we?

This message is excerpted from “Taking the secular and making it sacred” by Linda Post Bushkofsky in the September 1, 2014, blog of the Women of the ELCA. Today is Labor Day in the United States.