God Squad: How one reverent family keeps the Sabbath

When I asked you, dear readers, in a recent column to share the ways you honor the Sabbath Day, I was anticipating a flood of responses from Orthodox Jewish readers. I was therefore surprised and delighted to receive this extraordinary story of Christian family piety on the Sabbath. What this reveals is that there are many of you who take seriously the commandment to keep one day holy out of every seven days. This, I believe, more than any other commandment will build pious families and secure a future for the spiritual legacy of the biblical faiths. God bless you, B and  R.  

Dear Rabbi Gellman: I believe that when God created people, God carefully planned everything that we would need in order to be healthy and happy. That included food, fresh air, water, work, families, rest for bodies and minds, mental stimulation, an interesting environment of nature and animals, relationships between us and God, and perhaps other things we take for granted.

God said we were to work six days a week and rest on the seventh. God gave us the work of caring for the earth and animals. God knew our physical needs, our mental needs, our social needs and our spiritual need to be with Someone greater than ourselves — our Creator. The Sabbath, which God gave at the time of our creation, meets the need for an entire day of physical and mental rest from the work we do during the week. It also meets a spiritual need so we can take an entire day to remember our Creator, commune with God, relax and be happy. We do this well with other people, so together we worship and also meet social needs.

As we study God’s creation, enjoying the outdoors, nature and animals, we stimulate our brains to enjoy God and nature and also relax our brains from any stress that might build up during the workweek. So our mental needs receive attention, too. God’s decision to rest was part of the original plan for an ideal life for people. Preparing for the Sabbath is like preparing for any other activity, such as a picnic or wedding. We plan what we will need, then get it ready.

Some people call Friday the Preparation Day. We prepare the clothes, food, house and car. We put away secular things that might distract us from the Sabbath, then Sabbath can go smoothly and stress-free. We go to bed a little earlier than usual so we will be well-rested. We have a good breakfast that was planned ahead of time, and go to church in our clean car wearing clean clothes with polished shoes (respectful for our meeting with God). We eat a special lunch at home or take it as a picnic to a beautiful place in nature. We take a walk and enjoy the scenery and animals. We talk about spiritual things, and about our wonderful God. We sing hymns and read and discuss something from the Bible. If there are children, we may play a Bible or nature game. We sometimes go visit elderly people or sing at a nursing home.

Our God is so good to us. We are refreshed and grateful. Then another happy Sabbath has ended. We are one week closer to Jesus’ second coming!  — B and R