The other night I was reading "Little House in the Big Woods" to my daughter before bed. The chapter was "Sundays" and it described how the isolated family celebrated the Sabbath. I was intrigued, and could not help but contrast it with how my family "remembers the Sabbath day and keeps it holy". Or not.
In the book, the girls (who are four and six) got dressed in their best, even though it was too snowy and far to go to church. They had to sit and be quiet while their mother read the Bible to them, or they could look at the pictures in it or the "big green book" (a book about animals and birds -- I think it was the only other book they owned). They were not allowed to play, or be loud, or even to sew on their samplers or quilts (as that was work). And when Laura got tired of sitting and started playing with the dog, she got a reprimand, and a story.
The story was about how her Grandpa (Pa's Pa) had to be good on Sundays when he was a boy, too. The Sabbath began at sundown Saturday for them. He had a cold breakfast, then sat through two hour church service in the morning, and wasn't allowed to shift, or look at the windows, or take his eyes from the preacher. At home he and his two brothers studied their catechism and Bible all afternoon. Dinner was a cold supper prepared the day before.
When the story was over, Laura didn't think she had it so bad as Grandpa had when he was a boy.
In contrast, I look at how our family keeps the Sabbath, and I shake my head. Yes, we go to church, but if it goes more than an hour even the adults start looking at their watches. My daughter has a "church bag" that has crayons and bible stories, to keep her amused (she's six). We often go out to lunch afterward with some of our church friends. Then we go home and do pretty much normal things. Clean, watch movies, go for bike rides, have friends over to game (RPGs), play on the computer.
Probably the only concession to Sunday that we do is to be more judicious in our movie choices. We're more likely to watch a Christian-themed movie on Sundays, and put aside the SF, monster films, and cartoons for another day. And sometimes I'll take out the hymnal in the evening and sing a while. Often we will discuss the sermon and the lectionary texts, or what Gem learned in Sunday school. But that's about it.
What a difference 100 years makes! Not even that long, actually. I can remember a time when the city in which my sister lives in Michigan still made businesses close on Sundays. And if you mowed your lawn on Sunday, your neighbors would give you dirty looks.
How important is it to completely separate Sunday from other days in this way? How do we balance the command to keep it holy (sacred) without becoming too legalistic? I don't want the day to be marked only by a two-hour stint in church (half in class and half in divine service). That's too little, in my opinion. And yet there are Jewish communities where you cannot turn a light switch on the Sabbath. That's off the scale the other way, in my opinion.
Where is the balance for your family? What restrictions, if any, do you put on yourselves on Sundays? Why, or why not?
In the book, the girls (who are four and six) got dressed in their best, even though it was too snowy and far to go to church. They had to sit and be quiet while their mother read the Bible to them, or they could look at the pictures in it or the "big green book" (a book about animals and birds -- I think it was the only other book they owned). They were not allowed to play, or be loud, or even to sew on their samplers or quilts (as that was work). And when Laura got tired of sitting and started playing with the dog, she got a reprimand, and a story.
The story was about how her Grandpa (Pa's Pa) had to be good on Sundays when he was a boy, too. The Sabbath began at sundown Saturday for them. He had a cold breakfast, then sat through two hour church service in the morning, and wasn't allowed to shift, or look at the windows, or take his eyes from the preacher. At home he and his two brothers studied their catechism and Bible all afternoon. Dinner was a cold supper prepared the day before.
When the story was over, Laura didn't think she had it so bad as Grandpa had when he was a boy.
In contrast, I look at how our family keeps the Sabbath, and I shake my head. Yes, we go to church, but if it goes more than an hour even the adults start looking at their watches. My daughter has a "church bag" that has crayons and bible stories, to keep her amused (she's six). We often go out to lunch afterward with some of our church friends. Then we go home and do pretty much normal things. Clean, watch movies, go for bike rides, have friends over to game (RPGs), play on the computer.
Probably the only concession to Sunday that we do is to be more judicious in our movie choices. We're more likely to watch a Christian-themed movie on Sundays, and put aside the SF, monster films, and cartoons for another day. And sometimes I'll take out the hymnal in the evening and sing a while. Often we will discuss the sermon and the lectionary texts, or what Gem learned in Sunday school. But that's about it.
What a difference 100 years makes! Not even that long, actually. I can remember a time when the city in which my sister lives in Michigan still made businesses close on Sundays. And if you mowed your lawn on Sunday, your neighbors would give you dirty looks.
How important is it to completely separate Sunday from other days in this way? How do we balance the command to keep it holy (sacred) without becoming too legalistic? I don't want the day to be marked only by a two-hour stint in church (half in class and half in divine service). That's too little, in my opinion. And yet there are Jewish communities where you cannot turn a light switch on the Sabbath. That's off the scale the other way, in my opinion.
Where is the balance for your family? What restrictions, if any, do you put on yourselves on Sundays? Why, or why not?
