If you are aware of the origins of this blog, you know it flows out of a class called “A Way of Life.” This class is a part of the Vantage Point 3 curriculum our church uses as a discipleship/leadership training process. See my links section for the VP3 website! (It is under the "About Alice" heading)

Our current class just spent 2 weeks thinking and talking about the idea of Sabbath.

And, as usual, the topic stirred up lots of dust!

Emotions, memories, ideas, rules, perceptions, misperceptions, a bent toward legalism, a hat tip to forgetfulness … the full monty.

So, I thought it might be a good opportunity to write a few posts on the topic.

I have no intention of perfectly explaining how Christians should interact with Sabbath.

I am not going to put a pretty bow on the topic and answer all possible questions.

I simply want to present some of the most eloquent and thoughtful stuff I’ve ever read on the topic.

I’ll leave the rest up to you …

So, to start, the classic writer on the topic must be the Jewish theologian Abraham Joshua Heschel. His book, The Sabbath, is worth your time …

In the introduction, Heschel’s daughter Susanna writes this:

“Observing the Sabbath is not only about refraining from work, but about creating menuha, a restfulness that is also a celebration.

The Sabbath is a day for body as well as soul.

It is a sin to be sad on the Sabbath, a lesson my father often repeated and always observed.”

I don’t know when, where, how, or even if you observe any kind of Sabbath in the midst of your week, but if you do, or if you plan to start … please start with this:

It is a sin to be sad on the Sabbath …

Oh, now that is good stuff …