There is a running conversation at St Joseph's Catholic School about the frenetic pace of life for us, our families and our students. American middle class life is crazy in its fast pace and pressure for accomplishment and activity. In many families both Mom and Dad work full time and the kids' lives are packed with high pressure academic expectations, a busy social life and a whole range of excellent, but time consuming extra curriculars. In my family with four kids we have: a cross country champion, a chess champion, a soccer star, a fine pianist, budding actress, altar servers, stage crew, wrestling, softball and part time jobs mowing lawns, babysitting, life guarding, etc.
What's up? Why do we keep running around as we do? Why are we exhausted, often bad tempered and overwrought? Its because we've forgotten to keep the Sabbath day holy. Have you noticed how this commandment is overlooked in our society? In my parents and grandparents day they kept strict rules about the sabbath. The rules seem arcane, arbitrary and pointless to us. "Do you mean I can make a ham sandwich, but I can't cook a ham?" "Why am I allowed to go outside and throw a frisbee, but I can't play football with my friends?" ""Why is the gas station open but the supermarket isn't?"
So we've done away with all the 'silly Sabbath rules'. All the stores are open on Sunday, and who doesn't go shopping now if they need to? In fact, with the busyness of life Sunday is the one day we can fit in a bit of shopping, and if we shop, isn't Sunday the day when we get all those other chores done that we've slipped up on through the week? "Besides," we argue, "what's the point of having a 'day of rest anyway?'"
The point is this: God is actually telling us to chill out. He's actually saying, "Take a break will you? Slow down. Take it easy. Tarry thou the Lord's leisure." And why? Because how can you develop a contemplative life if you don't actually take time? How can you reflect on life unless you slow down? How can your life be deepened if you don't take a break? How can you learn to listen to God unless you are first silent and still? He does not speak now in the earthquake, wind and fire, but in the still, small voice. By commanding us to keep the Sabbath day holy God calls us not just to dutiful attendance at Mass, but a loving attention to his voice. Keeping the Sabbath day holy means no less than building into our schedules a day for contemplation.
Yes, that's right: contemplation. This beautiful skill is probably the least developed human attribute in our modern world. Where is the contemplative soul? Lost in the hellish hurly burly and hubbub of constant rock music occupying our ears, the vulgarity of the advertisers distracting our eyes, the enticing action and color of continuous screen-based entertainment--the iPod, the computer, the television, the cinema, the billboard--all flashing and speaking and singing and dancing and distracting us.
If we kept the Sabbath we would soon find that the Sabbath begins to filter down into the rest of our lives. One day a week soon becomes a moment in every day and that moment spreads like s sweet fragrance and begins to change our lives for the better. We begin to take time and slow down and relish the really important things. All the silly frenetic activity is soon seen for the shallow waste of time so much of it is. All the distractions of the world become empty vanities, our lives begin to have greater depth. Our relationships begin to deepen. Our lives become more real, and bit by bit we are transformed from glory into glory.
Posted by Fr Longenecker at Thursday, October 08, 2009
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