A Sabbath Mood

"Whatever is foreseen in joy
Must be lived out from day to day.
Vision held open in the dark
By our ten thousand days of work.
Harvest will fill the barn; for that
The hand must ache, the face must sweat
And yet no leaf or grain if filled
By work of ours, the field is tilled
And left to grace. That we may reap,
Great work is done while we're asleep.
When we work well, a Sabbath mood
Rests on our day, and finds it good."  Wendell Berry

One of the ironies of human nature is that we take a concept meant for our good and twist it into something else that was never meant to be.  One of those things is the concept of The Sabbath Day.

Growing up as a Southern Baptist the Sabbath Day, also known as The Lord's Day, was on Sunday. The deeply held belief was that although the Commandment established Saturday, the seventh day, as the Sabbath, the resurrection of Jesus established Sunday as The Lord's Day. Jesus trumped the Ten Commandments. Shouldn't He?

My family and my church espoused a laundry list of things that you could and could not do on Sundays. We could go to church all day, of course.  The rest of the day we were not supposed to "work", like mowing the grass or gardening.  We were not supposed to shop on Sundays.  This requirement fostered the fact that we were not expending energy while shopping and we were not supporting these employees' breach of the Sabbath. We could shoot rifles and shotguns in my grandmother's woods, but we couldn't go golfing or participate in any organized sports. We could play in the creek, but we couldn't swim in the city pool. The convoluted list went on from there.

The Jews of course, those for whom the original Sabbath was established, have a much, much longer list. The Biblical Sabbath  of the Jews was enforced by a multitude of interpretations and restrictions. Violations were punishable even by death. For the Orthodox and Ultra-orthodox Jews, the list is as long as ever. Technically, the Sabbath is observed from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday. There is a story in Numbers Chapter 15 about a man who was caught "picking up sticks" on the Sabbath Day.  According to the  Biblical account, God told Moses to put him to death.  They took him outside the camp and "stoned him to death." They didn't just knock him over the head with an ax, but they slowly bludgeoned  him with large rocks. Stoning is one of the most horrible and cruel forms of torture devised by man. The idea was (is) to use rocks heavy enough to crack bones and skulls, and eventually kill the offender, but not so big as to cause immediate death. Death was prolonged for as long as possible. Stoning takes "blood and guts" to an unthinkable level.  And for what? Picking up sticks on Saturday.  And God told Moses to do that?

The Seventh-Day Adventists, as well as other "seventh-day" congregations, combine both ideas. As Christians they certainly celebrate the resurrection of the Lord on Sunday, but they also preach the Biblical Sabbath on Saturday. The belief is that the Commandment established the seventh day as the Sabbath Day and nowhere in the Bible does God issue a different commandment. Good point. Then like the other Christians and Jews there is a laundry list of dos, don'ts including eternal threats  related to the Sabbath Day.

One thing these beliefs and practices have in common, whether Saturday or Sunday, is that you spend much of your Sabbath Day in church. At 102 Glenn Street we got up early, got ready for church, went to Sunday School and worship, had our restricted afternoon activities and then went back to church in the late afternoon for Training Union and worship.  You rested before and after.  As long and boring as church could get to be for a kid,  I recall that  the after-church formal and informal fellowships were quite enjoyable.  

Sabbath for me has become a concept, a "mood".  I don't have to wait for Friday or Saturday or Sunday to enjoy the Sabbath rest.  It's a time to relax and to enjoy the company of others or the company of myself. This time can be any time of any day of the week.  Sabbath can happen over a space of hours or just a space of minutes.  Sometimes the mini-Sabbaths are just what the doctor ordered. There is no list of dos and don'ts. There are no commandments or restrictions. There is no punishment for violations.  "Sabbath was made for man", Jesus said. "Man was not made for the Sabbath." This way  a NICU nurse, or a hospital pharmacist, an airline pilot or a Waffle House employee can find time in the day or at least in the week to take some time for herself. And as the Apostle Paul exclaimed about the fruit of the Spirit, "Against such things there is no law."

The biggest irony of all  is that it seems that God has tricked "first-day adventists" into enjoying the Biblical Sabbath. For those that work the traditional Monday to Friday and go to church on Sunday, Saturday, the seventh day, then becomes the only day available for relaxation  and doing the things they enjoy. For that matter, this relaxation and recreation begins approximately at sundown on Friday and many times ends approximately at sundown on Saturday.  It especially ends that night for those Christians who are at least somewhat dreading all the church activities the next day. And wishing that they had another day exactly like Saturday.

Do you know of God ordering the execution of someone for mowing their grass on Saturday?  Doesn't that require more effort than bending over and picking up something off the ground? When did the Commandment change that God would be any less angry than He was over picking up sticks? Except for the signs I read in front of many churches, it  appears that God has become a lot more people-friendly over the years. Maybe it's an issue of Biblical writers and not Biblical Deities. You think?

As Berry reminds us,  most things  on Earth happen with no effort on our part. "We plow the fields and scatter the good seed on the land.  But it is fed and watered by God's Almighty hand." (Stephen Schwartz).As we expand that field to include our solar system, our galaxy, and our universe we observe a self-sustaining spectacle that beckons our observation and imagination, but not necessarily our participation. For NASA space may require work days.  For the rest of us, it's Sabbath. Honoring the Sabbath, on any day, offers the chance to participate in this dance of light and life.

"And on the seventh day God rested from all His labors."  And so should we. Just be wary of picking up sticks.