Minilogue - March 2005
Minilogue - March 2005
Remember the Sabbath?
By the Rev. Bruce Johnson
Remember the Sabbath? Far from being an outmoded and irrational practice, I think that perhaps it is an idea whose time has come again. In a world out of balance, where some people literally work themselves to death, and others die for lack of work, we ought to look again at what it might mean to set aside and sanctify a portion of time for the sole and sacred purpose of being, rather than doing.
I don’t often turn to the Westminster Catechism for religious inspiration, but there is one phrase from that famous Presbyterian confession of faith which has always struck me as powerfully true. Like many catechisms, Westminster follows a question-and-answer format and it begins with the following exchange: Question: “What is the chief and highest end of man?” Answer: “The chief and highest end of man is to worship God and fully to enjoy Him forever.” Don’t get hung up on the “G” word and the sexist language- -the point I’m trying to make is that “worship” here is seen as an end in itself, and as something which ought to be inherently joyful. If it isn’t joyful, it isn’t worship, by definition! How the reformed churches (including Unitarian Universalists -- we trace our roots primarily through this lineage) got away from the notion and practice of actually enjoying the sabbath is one of the tragedies of American religious history.
H.L. Mencken once defined Puritanism as “the sneaking suspicion that somewhere, somehow, someone was having a good time!” The notorious Connecticut Code included the provision, “If any man shall kiss his wife, or wife her husband on the Lord’s Day, the party at fault shall be punished at the discretion of the Magistrates.” But surely this is a perversion of the original idea of sabbath, which was to be “the crown of creation,” a time set aside to cease from all doing in order to simply rejoice in being.
Recently I heard a report that a man in Illinois had won his case in the state Supreme Court, which ruled that he was entitled to unemployment compensation for being fired from a job because he refused to work on his sabbath. Before we dismiss him as a stubborn fanatic, we ought to pause, take a breath, and consider how driven we are in our work. “The hurrier we go, the behinder we get,” the Amish say. What kind of progress is that? Why is the thought of pausing from work so difficult, so heretical?
Certainly we can’t return to a traditional, orthodox sabbath observance, even if we wanted to. That presupposes a unified religious culture which we do not have. Besides, the liberal spirit in us rebels against being compelled to do anything! But if we Unitarian Universalists can recognize the underlying intent of this tradition, while retaining flexibility in regard to the form, we might well find it worthwhile to “remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy.”
By the Rev. Bruce Johnson
Remember the Sabbath? Far from being an outmoded and irrational practice, I think that perhaps it is an idea whose time has come again. In a world out of balance, where some people literally work themselves to death, and others die for lack of work, we ought to look again at what it might mean to set aside and sanctify a portion of time for the sole and sacred purpose of being, rather than doing.
I don’t often turn to the Westminster Catechism for religious inspiration, but there is one phrase from that famous Presbyterian confession of faith which has always struck me as powerfully true. Like many catechisms, Westminster follows a question-and-answer format and it begins with the following exchange: Question: “What is the chief and highest end of man?” Answer: “The chief and highest end of man is to worship God and fully to enjoy Him forever.” Don’t get hung up on the “G” word and the sexist language- -the point I’m trying to make is that “worship” here is seen as an end in itself, and as something which ought to be inherently joyful. If it isn’t joyful, it isn’t worship, by definition! How the reformed churches (including Unitarian Universalists -- we trace our roots primarily through this lineage) got away from the notion and practice of actually enjoying the sabbath is one of the tragedies of American religious history.
H.L. Mencken once defined Puritanism as “the sneaking suspicion that somewhere, somehow, someone was having a good time!” The notorious Connecticut Code included the provision, “If any man shall kiss his wife, or wife her husband on the Lord’s Day, the party at fault shall be punished at the discretion of the Magistrates.” But surely this is a perversion of the original idea of sabbath, which was to be “the crown of creation,” a time set aside to cease from all doing in order to simply rejoice in being.
Recently I heard a report that a man in Illinois had won his case in the state Supreme Court, which ruled that he was entitled to unemployment compensation for being fired from a job because he refused to work on his sabbath. Before we dismiss him as a stubborn fanatic, we ought to pause, take a breath, and consider how driven we are in our work. “The hurrier we go, the behinder we get,” the Amish say. What kind of progress is that? Why is the thought of pausing from work so difficult, so heretical?
Certainly we can’t return to a traditional, orthodox sabbath observance, even if we wanted to. That presupposes a unified religious culture which we do not have. Besides, the liberal spirit in us rebels against being compelled to do anything! But if we Unitarian Universalists can recognize the underlying intent of this tradition, while retaining flexibility in regard to the form, we might well find it worthwhile to “remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy.”