WEEK 5 REPORT: SABBATH

Sabbath Remembrances

The spiritual discipline of sabbath used to be something that my parents enforced or that I exploited to get out of doing work. I was pretty good about it in high school, largely because my parents would not let me go out or do anything with my friends on the weekend until my homework was all finished. I loved and hated that rule. Sometimes I would have a bunch of homework and would not be able to go out, but it was great knowing that I had nothing else that I had to accomplish that weekend.

Snow day Sabbath

Nothing to do. There were no responsiblities. Well, at least no responsibilities that I would let myself think too much about. My greatest mistake was not going immediately back to sleep after I heard that class was canceled. No, I wanted to make the most of this day so I stayed up and played video games. Unfortunately, this left me fried for the rest of the day. If I had had class that day I probably would not have paid any attention anyway. It was incredible to just hang out with people, go see a movie, and then hang out with people again. It was fellowship. Not the cheap forced kind we try to make at youth group sometime, but the real relationship building, fun, inner healing kind of fellowship. Love abounded on campus that day. We all had a common denominator: No Class. I believe that this is what made these days so special. It was not that there was a bunch of snow outside, that there were a bunch of activities available, or even that there was not class. It was that for that day, we were all the same. We did different things, hung out with different people, and had different experiences that day, but we were all free to do whatever we wanted. This feeling tied us all together. Christ should be this way. He ought to be the common denominator that makes every day seem like a party. We should have that real fellowship with each other because we are all the same. There are no jocks, geeks, cool, slacker, punk, or whatever else. We are all CHRISTIANS dang it! We are free in Christ. We have inner healing, security, contentment, righteousness, compassion, purpose, and so much else from God. If we had snow day sabbath and snow day community all the time then people would want Christianity more than the disease we sometimes portray it as. So many Christians do not realize what benefit they get from being in relationship with Christ. This is what my sabbath taught me. It taught me about community and rest in Christ. He wants us to have a blast just hanging out with each other at least once a week. I am going to strive this semester to keep my sundays open for sabbath. I know this might mean sacrificing some Friday and Saturday time, but I believe that it will be totally worth it.