So, its not a wonder that when they built a new home on the farm property, Jenny’s Mom and Dad had an old cross cut saw, painted black and then inscribed with words in white, Ora Et Labora. Annie Siebring probably didn’t know that this Latin phrase was centuries old, coming from the Rule of St Benedict. In these monastic orders prayer and work were partners. Well, that was certainly true in the Siebring household. We sometimes joked that it used to say Labora et Labora, work and work, with the ‘Lab’ dropping off from time to time, but the daily liturgy in the household was always pray and work. Each and every meal began and ended in prayer and there was always prayer for the work of the day and prayer, devotional reading and scripture that ended it. Another family story is told of youngest sister Heidi telling two of her friends when they asked the meaning of the sign, that these were the names of two of the family pigs.
As children grew and matured, they too were brought into this rhythm, pray and work, by picking beans, blackberries, and cherries and getting them into glass jars for preserving. Every Saturday morning was set aside to clean the house from top to bottom, dusting, vacuuming, washing windows, working in the barns, haying and mowing lawns, cleaning cars and polishing the shoes for Sunday morning. Work and prayer held a high value, and it was also learning by doing. The children in the family also learned how to pray from their mom and most table prayers also ended with sung children’s prayers. This still occurred at the table, even long after the children had left home. Our grandchildren are learning those songs today. When the matriarch dies, the work and prayer are passed on finding new rhythms and new expression.