What happened to your day of rest?

BY EILEEN BRADY
​SALT MAGAZINE

​If you’re sitting down with this magazine, perhaps with a hot cup of tea, you’re probably not the person who needs to read this particular article. Maybe you should pass it on to one of those people who says, “I’m so busy” as a badge of honor. 
Tap Mrs. Busy on the shoulder and ask her to look up from her smartphone. Tell Mr. Busy to read after midnight, since he brags that he only needs five hours of sleep. Slip it to him on Sunday as he sits in the bleachers at his kid’s sporting event. 
It’s now a 24/7 world, and we’ve been conditioned to think that more is better, convenience is mandatory, and rest is a four-letter word.
For 2,000 years, it was much different: A day of sabbath was observed across cultures, with time for worship and repose. Only in the past several decades has it eroded to the point where nearly any activity — shopping, sports, bar-hopping, working — can happen 24 hours a day, seven days a week. 
“Sabbath was initially intended not as a heavy theological mandate, but as common sense — because we need to renew,” said the Rev. Dr. Tom Stephenson, pastor at Wilmington’s First Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). The word “sabbath” means “to rest,” or even “to cease,” which makes the action more intentional, Stephenson said. 

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