The Sabbath

Welcome to another installment of "The Gospel According to Jeannine." The ideas, opinions, musing, etc. expressed here, though influenced by other factors in my life, are entirely my own. They are not necessarily the opinions of any church or other organization to which I belong.

Today I've been thinking a lot about the Sabbath. For me, first and foremost, the Sabbath is about rest--literal rest as in relaxation, rest from the world, rest from the craziness and business that fills almost every minute of the rest of my week. I've become very protective of my Sundays because I know I need that rest in order to function the rest of the week.

Here are some interesting quotes from the Bible Dictionary:

• On the Sabbath the daily sacrifices were doubled...
  
• The Sabbath was a holy day before the giving of the Law, even from the earliest times...
  
• ...the Sabbath is an eternal principle...
  
• The existence of a weekly holy day is a most important safeguard; it leaves a constant reminder to the individulal of his need for spiritual sustenance and his duty before God...
  
• The change from observing the last day of the week to the first day of the week is not so important as is the concept and principle of the Sabbath. In either case, the Sabbath was symbolic of the mighty works of God, i.e., the creation of the earth, the deliverance of Israel from Egypt, and the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
  

On the Sabbath the daily sacrifices were doubled...

We often fall into thinking of Sabbath observance as all the things we shouldn't do on Sunday, but the Sabbath is also a time to refocus on the spiritual things that sometimes get lost in the rest of the week. I like the idea of doubling the sacrifice. We no longer do animal sacrifice, but in what areas can I double my attempts at spirituality? This blog is actually one of the ways I can double my sacrifice. I can take the time that I would like to "rest" to contemplate and write about spiritual things. I think doubling our sacrifices can also refer to fulfilling our callings. Those certainly are sacrifices of time and energy, but help us refocus on what is important.

...the Sabbath is an eternal principle...
When defining eternal principles, most people would refer to the fact that the principle has always existed, and will always exist, that the way we apply it might change, but the fundmental concept does not and will not. I also like to add the eternal principles are also usually universal ones, meaning that it doesn't just apply to the lives of faithful church members, but the world also acknowledges its existence and usefulness. For example, most business that really thrive work with the principle of tithing; giving back to the world keeps the money coming in.

Academia has long recognized the value of the principle of the sabbath. Teachers take sabbaticals to rest, to learn new things, to focus on personal or professional projects, or to recharge, and come back better teachers.

The existence of a weekly holy day is a most important safeguard; it leaves a constant reminder to the individulal of his need for spiritual sustenance and his duty before God..
For me, the sabbath is not just a reminder of my need for spiritual sustenance, but a reminder to care for my body as well. It's a time for re-evaluation. Are the things I've been doing still working? How can I improve? The sabbath is a time to sit back and regroup and think about what I need to change.

the Sabbath was symbolic
I love the idea of the Sabbath being a symbol. I love symbols. There are the very obvious (and/or revealed) symbols of the Sabbath, but what deeper meaning lies in this concept that I have yet to discover? The wonderful thing about symbols is that their meaning can change or broaden as we bring new life experiences to our examination of that symbol. What do the things I do (or don't do) on the Sabbath represent?

Which brings me to the concept of the ox in the mire. My family used this expression whenever there was something we would rather not do on Sunday, but it had to be done anyway. The idea is that although it was work, pulling out the ox was acceptable on the Sabbath. What does the ox in the mire represent? The ox was a very valuable and necessary piece of property. The loss of and ox could lead to the loss of the way you provide for your family. They probably didn't think about it this way, but I like to think that it was acceptable to remove the ox because of the psychological stress (and some physical too) that the ox would experience if it was to stay stuck until after the Sabbath. And what about the stress of the people that had to see or listen to the struggling ox? Sometimes, there are just things that must be done.

I had 2 oxen today. I spent about 3 1/2 hours at school today getting things organized for Monday morning. First of all, it was not stuff that I had put off doing to do something fun instead; I just didn't have enough time for everything last week. Secondly, had I not done it, I would have had my Sunday 6PM anxiety attack contemplating all the things that I didn't get done. So, it's not the way I want to spend a Sunday, but it was necessary and it puts me in a better position for getting through this week in one piece, and hopefully having a more restful Sunday next week.

The second ox was my bathroom. "Mire" isn't much of a stretch. With my allergies and other sensitivities, mold, mildew, dust, etc. are not good. Again, it was a judgement call I made based on my physical and psychological health. The rest of the house really needs to be cleaned as well, but getting the bathroom done allowed me to relax a little. I don't feel as overwhelmed about all the things that have to happen this week.

So, today wasn't a restful Sunday in the way I would have liked it to be, but it was a chance to think about sacred things, re-evaluate my life, and focus on making things better.