Together on the Journey:
A Weekly Blog
The Lord’s Day Act of 1902 was sweeping in its ordinances to ensure that Sunday be a true ‘day of rest’. Among other things, it was illegal to push children on a swing, to toboggan, or to watch ladies undress; I’m assuming this last restriction did not apply in a person’s home so much as in certain establishments! Officials also thought it important to add that you could not transport a dead horse on Yonge St on a Sunday. The department store Eaton’s even drew a curtain across its windows to discourage shopping of the window sort. This Act was repealed in 1992 and now Sunday is just another day. As it should be.
And what do you mean ‘as it should be’? you may ask. All these efforts were seen to be in service of a Christian agenda in, what was considered to be the case at that time, a Christian country. The irony is that there is no such thing as a Christian Sabbath; at least, not a Christian sabbath burdened with myriad restrictions. This idea, borrowed from the Jewish sabbath, was not a feature for most of the Church’s history and only became a thing in the austere backdrop of Victorian Britain. For us, Sunday, the day of the Resurrection, is a day of celebration and delight; a feast day not a fast day. And nowhere in Christian scripture and early Christian texts is it offered as a day of graveness and restraint. Indeed, Jesus repeatedly ‘worked’ on the sabbath and was censured for doing so. His response was to remind his detractors that ‘the sabbath was made for humans’, and not humans made for the sabbath.
Nonetheless, I would suggest that although sabbath is not a commandment we are bound to, it is a promise we are invited to enjoy. That although we are not compelled to a strict observance of the sabbath, we should be compelled by the idea of a sabbath. And that is the idea of a day of rest, or at least a time of rest – a purposeful pause in the midst of our busy lives to relax our bodies, clear our minds, and reflect on God’s grace as expressed in creation, relationships, or solitude. Indeed, it is a time to push a child on a swing, to toboggan, to shed some clothes and bask in the sun, to shop for pleasure, to sit alone in silent contemplation on a beach, or in the woods, or in our homes. I am reminded of the words from that old hymn: “Drop thy still dews of quietness, till all our strivings cease; take from our souls the strain and stress, and let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace.”
This is true sabbath, and well worth observing.
Which brings me to summer. This is uniquely a time for sabbath. A time for us as a parish to know rest and refreshment. At St George’s on-the-Hill many people have worked very hard these past ten months in providing governance, programming, liturgies, pastoral care, outreach, service, and hospitality. Now is a time for a parish-wide rest, a parish-wide sabbath. If you are around, please do join us on Sunday. But otherwise, it is my hope that, when it comes to church, this summer will be a chance for you to find some rest and refreshment.
Andrew+