T
TrustAndObey
Guest
For about the gazillionth time I saw the accusation that Sabbath-keepers aren't really keeping the Sabbath commandment because if we turn on a light or run the A/C we're asking someone at the power company to work FOR us.
And we’re the ones that get accused of legalism? HA! Do people sit around thinking of ways to make the blessing a curse or what?
First of all, the commandment says "within thy gates", and I know the good Lord doesn’t expect us to make everyone obey His commandment. I cannot control whether or not someone works at a convenience store on the Sabbath, but I can make sure they don’t have to work to serve me, etc.
But electricity, should I stop using it on Sabbath? What I discovered is that it wouldn’t matter.
A couple of months ago the power went out on a Sunday here. When I called to report the outage, I got an answering machine because, according to the message, the office is only open Monday through Friday and crews are only called in when there's an emergency. The message gave me an emergency pager number for the lead on call.
I wondered then how it all works, but didn’t take the time to research it until the last accusation did pique my interest.
I started studying electricity in my area yesterday. How it’s generated, stored, accessed, etc. It’s actually pretty fascinating and just one of those things I never really thought about before (until I LOSE power).
The electricity in my area is generated from a huge water dam fairly close to where I live. Much to my surprise, we use hydroelectric power in my area (we’ve been eco-friendly since 1960!), and it’s not Fred Flintstone running around on a rock treadmill.
I called the dam office and talked to the dam supervisor. He was very friendly and answered a lot of my dam questions. (haha) He is obsessed with how transformers work, so I had to listen to that explanation a lot longer than I wanted to, but what can you do?
The water generates the electricity which goes into a power grid, and then out to a distribution system where transformers change the voltage before the electricity is distributed to our houses. Humans are necessary for equipment maintenance/repairs, but WATER does all the hard work.
There is a power substation directly behind where I live and it’s hustle and bustle M-F, but on the weekend there's not a SOUL there and the gate is locked up. I can see the place plain as day during the winter, but during the spring/summer, I can’t see it at all. So for 6 months out of the year my mind is eased about getting cancer from all the transformers over there. HA!
In a nutshell, I was told that the power companies here would still have skeleton crews working on the weekend even if every household stopped using electricity. They have to have people there for equipment maintenance, checks and balances, possible terroristic attacks (sadly, my area is NOT equipped to handle such a thing, he said). Most everyone else is on call just for emergencies.
They are legally bound to supply power to the hospitals in my area 7 days a week.
The only thing he said that was bothersome to me is that there are three crews that work regularly on the weekends to hook up power to new customers. THAT is the only thing I personally would have control over and I definitely wouldn’t ask anyone to hook me up in a new place on Sabbath, so no worries. That would be “within my gates” after all.
My plan already was to check into using solar power when I purchase my next home, but for now I do have a clear conscience about using electricity on Sabbath.
Sabbath-keepers, it’s okay to go into labor or have a heart attack or other emergency on Sabbath...because Christ said it is lawful to do good and save a life rather than destroy it on the Sabbath. As a future nurse, I can tell you right now that I will help people on Sabbath if they need me and I won’t feel guilty about it all. Christ is our ultimate example!
So there you have it…even if you stop using electricity on Sabbath, the skeleton crews are still necessary and you have no control over that. I advocate energy conservation 7 days a week though, and if you're not using it--turn it off!
And we’re the ones that get accused of legalism? HA! Do people sit around thinking of ways to make the blessing a curse or what?
First of all, the commandment says "within thy gates", and I know the good Lord doesn’t expect us to make everyone obey His commandment. I cannot control whether or not someone works at a convenience store on the Sabbath, but I can make sure they don’t have to work to serve me, etc.
But electricity, should I stop using it on Sabbath? What I discovered is that it wouldn’t matter.
A couple of months ago the power went out on a Sunday here. When I called to report the outage, I got an answering machine because, according to the message, the office is only open Monday through Friday and crews are only called in when there's an emergency. The message gave me an emergency pager number for the lead on call.
I wondered then how it all works, but didn’t take the time to research it until the last accusation did pique my interest.
I started studying electricity in my area yesterday. How it’s generated, stored, accessed, etc. It’s actually pretty fascinating and just one of those things I never really thought about before (until I LOSE power).
The electricity in my area is generated from a huge water dam fairly close to where I live. Much to my surprise, we use hydroelectric power in my area (we’ve been eco-friendly since 1960!), and it’s not Fred Flintstone running around on a rock treadmill.
I called the dam office and talked to the dam supervisor. He was very friendly and answered a lot of my dam questions. (haha) He is obsessed with how transformers work, so I had to listen to that explanation a lot longer than I wanted to, but what can you do?
The water generates the electricity which goes into a power grid, and then out to a distribution system where transformers change the voltage before the electricity is distributed to our houses. Humans are necessary for equipment maintenance/repairs, but WATER does all the hard work.
There is a power substation directly behind where I live and it’s hustle and bustle M-F, but on the weekend there's not a SOUL there and the gate is locked up. I can see the place plain as day during the winter, but during the spring/summer, I can’t see it at all. So for 6 months out of the year my mind is eased about getting cancer from all the transformers over there. HA!
In a nutshell, I was told that the power companies here would still have skeleton crews working on the weekend even if every household stopped using electricity. They have to have people there for equipment maintenance, checks and balances, possible terroristic attacks (sadly, my area is NOT equipped to handle such a thing, he said). Most everyone else is on call just for emergencies.
They are legally bound to supply power to the hospitals in my area 7 days a week.
The only thing he said that was bothersome to me is that there are three crews that work regularly on the weekends to hook up power to new customers. THAT is the only thing I personally would have control over and I definitely wouldn’t ask anyone to hook me up in a new place on Sabbath, so no worries. That would be “within my gates” after all.
My plan already was to check into using solar power when I purchase my next home, but for now I do have a clear conscience about using electricity on Sabbath.
Sabbath-keepers, it’s okay to go into labor or have a heart attack or other emergency on Sabbath...because Christ said it is lawful to do good and save a life rather than destroy it on the Sabbath. As a future nurse, I can tell you right now that I will help people on Sabbath if they need me and I won’t feel guilty about it all. Christ is our ultimate example!
So there you have it…even if you stop using electricity on Sabbath, the skeleton crews are still necessary and you have no control over that. I advocate energy conservation 7 days a week though, and if you're not using it--turn it off!
