The Sabbath
"And do not do not carry a burden out of your houses on the sabbath or do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors" Jeremiah 17:19-27
As most of the communion obsesses about sexuality, I wonder why we don't consider a more problematic sin, our rejection of the Sabbath. In my corner of the world, people are overworked, buying products to assuage the dissatisfaction of their highly regulated children, often inhibiting the fantasy play crucial to human development. Time for simply reflecting, for learning, for gathering for the sake of being in human community - seems like a waste.
Our inability to rest and enjoy the "cathedral of the soul," I wonder, makes it hard for us to resist the overstimulation of our society. Denied the pleasures that social activities provide, highly individualized forms of recreation (say, TV) substitute for the purposes of the sabbath - the relationships that give us meaning. Sometimes I think that the church's confusion about sex is simply one part of our inability to talk about how our relationships are being corroded in a highly competitive, callous society.
The sabbath is the time, the location, where we reflect and we develop the virtuous life. In a culture where everything gets bought and sold, the integrity required for commerce and social engagement become undermined by those seeking status measured by accumulation. This is a deep threat to our social order, and destabilizes our engagement with God. Enjoyment - without a concern for time, guilt or worry - is the sensibility we look for: as at a wedding feast when we are surrounded by loving families, excellent food and elevating music. But we find such in the midst of the community of friends: not by measuring the cost of each moment.