This past Sunday, I had to do something I absolutely hate having to do. I had to work on Sunday.
Growing up, working on Sunday, or doing things that causes other people to have to work, was avoided as much as humanly possible. In my father's upbringing, the commandment "Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy" was taken very seriously. You don't work, or do things that might mean other people have to work. You don't go out to eat, you don't go shopping, or anything else where someone would have to be at work.
Growing up, we followed my Dad's instruction on this. My mom never had the same seriousness to it, but she respected his opinion. When I got old enough to consider it, I agreed that Dad's way of doing things made sense, and tried to continue the practice.
Keeping to it wasn't too hard, until I got out of college. Then, in real life, living with guys who like to do things like go out for lunch or catch a movie on Sundays, I slacked off a bit. Another part of the "rules" before was that we didn't turn down invitations from someone, lest we appear to be flaunting our spirituality (though I think my folks used a different phrasing to get the same point). So I played along for a couple years, though I was never really comfortable about it.
Over the last couple years, I've tried to curb things away from going out on Sundays for anything besides church. Since that was about the same time I moved into my own place, it was much easier. Also, I started finding polite and preferably subtle ways to avoid someone suggesting going out in the first place, and have gotten halfway decent at it. For most things short of emergencies, even if I have to do something like pick up a missing food item, I can at least avoid doing something where someone would (theoretically) have to be working. Automated gas pumps and auto-checkout lanes can be handy.
Having to work this last Sunday bugged me for a couple reasons. First, because it wasn't really necessary. My boss turned down a perfectly good Memorial Day holiday where we could have done what needed doing, and everybody's happy. It would've meant I couldn't go to visit a friend a couple hours away, but I would've made that trade easy (especially since I might've gotten to "trade holidays" for the Friday instead). Second, it bugged me because we ran way overtime, and I completely missed church; according to the original schedule, I would've made it in time for at least the second service, and maybe even most of Communion. Running late on something always bugs me, but when it means I can't be somewhere else I want to/am supposed to be, that can get me mad.
Since then, I've been reflecting a little on the nature of work, and found that my definition has some glaring holes in it. For starters, I don't hesitate to do things like surf the internet and watch TV, even though I know that there are people who have to work to keep those running on Sundays. Also, I've never put "work" stuff at church in the same category. I grew up waking up early every Sunday so that we could get to the school gym where our church met and set everything up, then tear everything down after service and then end up having a late lunch. So there's definitely a reevaluation that needs to take place there.
Finally, I realize how little I actually "honor the Sabbath" in my average Sunday. I go to church, sure, but when I get home I treat it a lot like Saturday. I don't spend the time in Bible study or worship, I just watch TV and poke at my computer, maybe do some chores that didn't get done during the rest of the week. This is the one that really bothers me. If I'm going to really practice what the Bible says, there's something missing there, and I'm going to have to spend a lot of time in thought trying to figure out where I want to be versus where I am.
