Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). In other words, the concept of a day of rest wasn’t just an arbitrary rule imposed onto the Israelites but something for their good, something that served them, not something for them to serve. But, as I discuss in the “Time and Work” chapter of my Intentional Happiness book (see the sidebar), the concept of a day of rest is tricky, because you have to plan ahead to make it happen. I so often find myself under the gun on Sundays, the day set aside by Christians for worship, a new practice instituted because the resurrection of Jesus was on “the first day of the week.”
In Fiddler on the Roof there’s a great scene near the beginning of the movie where Tevye’s five daughters and his sharp-tongued wife prepare for the Sabbath meal. At some point the mother says “it’s almost sundown!” or some such. (I just spent too much time trying to find the clip; it’s right before the “Matchmaker” song.) The point is, they have a deadline—they have to get everything done before the Sabbath starts. And because they do get it done, they have a lovely dinner for which everyone can sit down and partake. No one is rushing around, because the work has already been done.
So, while I am not planning to become a strict Sabbatarian (someone who believes that the law governing the keeping of the Sabbath applies to the observation of the Christian Sunday), I’m going to try to do better about keeping the spirit of the Sabbath rest on Sunday. Here are some ideas I hope to implement:
1. No housework or laundry. If it ain’t done, it ain’t done. It’ll have to wait until Monday.
2. No professional writing. I can take pictures of any food for which I’m planning to post the recipe, of course.
3. Simplified kitchen cleanup if we host a meal. Everything planned ahead so that there’s not a big mess in the first place.
4. First priority, after worship service attendance (which, to be fair, I hardly ever miss), on time spent with friends and family. If that means that I get roped into playing multiple board games, so be it. I actually do enjoy them once I get started. This aspect of Sundays also includes our twice-a-month church small group meetings. No last-minute dusting of the living room is allowed! (Time spent with family and friends also includes football games in which the Broncos are playing. As I have repeatedly told my son, these games provide an opportunity to spend time with people and are often an excuse for a party.)
5. Second priority, reading or listening to good books.
6. Ending the day on a relaxed note, looking forward to the start of the workweek.
So here it is Monday morning. What happens on Sunday morning is very much dependent on where I go from here. I’ve allowed many distractions while writing this post, with the result that it’s taken much longer than it should have. I’ll have more to say tomorrow on the ideas about goal-setting in Charles Duhigg’s new book which I featured last week. This whole keeping-the-spirit-of-the-Sabbath is what he would probably call a “stretch goal.” Come back tomorrow to read all about it!