Today is Sunday, a day of rest.
I’ve taken this seriously for the past 12 years of my life even though I’ve known Sunday is the ‘sabbath’ and we were instructed to ‘rest’ on the Lord’s day all of my life. When I was younger we still couldn’t shop on Sunday’s and many restaurants were closed as well. Our family went to Mass in the morning, made it to Dunkin Donuts for our donut (if we were good in Mass) and then spent they day doing nothing. Once we moved to Sherman when I was older and in middle school we would have Sunday dinners with my grandparents and other family.
But then times changed and the laws changed. Now we can shop and do all the normal things that go on every other day of the week. At first my family balked at this idea but before we knew our minds had changed the new norm set in.
Until one Sunday about twelve years ago I was standing at the washer in the garage putting in a load when a woman from my church walked up the driveway. She and her husband were members of a couples group Neal and I had recently joined at our parish and they were coming by to see if we wanted to join their family for Sunday dinner. They had a family of 5 kids and Neal and I had come to look up to them.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
I looked at her a bit puzzled because it seemed clear what I was doing. “I always do laundry on Sundays,” I replied.
Mock horror spread across her face. “Oh no, it’s Sunday. You shouldn’t be doing anything on Sunday but rest. I make sure throughout the week that if there is anything that needs to be done, like laundry,” she pointed at the basket of dirty clothes, ” or even grocery shopping, that I would get it all done before Sunday. On Sunday we go to Mass, I cook a dinner but that’s it. We spend it with family and friends or just watching movies.”
My spirit reacted to this concept with longing. I want to rest, I thought. I finished putting the clothes in the washer that but every Sunday from that point on I’ve tried to make the effort to get things done so that Sunday was a day of true rest. There are times that had to be reconsidered due to unforeseen circumstances but for the most part Sunday has always been a day that my spirit cherishes.
I’ve had uneventful days this weekend that I could have easily rested and done nothing but I gave them up to God and ended up organizing, cleaning, and getting things done that I’d been putting off. Today I gave this day of rest to the Lord and He has obliged. The only ‘work’ I’ve done is write this blog. 🙂
Enjoy your day of rest
Blessings
Shannon