The Sabbath

Before being Baptized, immersed, born again, or dunked in the Chesapeake Bay the concept of the Sabbath was baffling.  My ex-boyfriend observed the sabbath religiously, and I would follow…sort of.  I didn’t understand why we couldn’t go out to  a movie, eat out at a restaurant, or anything.

 The first day we had an opportunity to really chill, and get to know each other, it was on Friday. 

I had asked ” What would you like to do?”  he said “well we would have to stay in tonight, it is my Sabbath”

Pretending to know that I knew what a Sabbath was “Oh, okay.  Thats alright, we can just hang out at your place”. 

Immediately after we hung up the phone with finalized plans for the night, I rushed to the computer to Google my lack of understanding away.  What I was seeing didn’t seem right.  He’s not Jewish…is he?  At that I just researched to get enough information to ask educated questions through out the night.

We he came to pick me up, he explained on the way to his apartment.  “Its a time where I can’t spend any money, or work”. 

“Oh, Okay”.  And from then on, I stored that brief explanation, and accepted his spiritual decision.  I didn’t know enough to admire it.  At that point, it was a small inconvenience that forced us to be creative with how we spent time with each other.  We had a chance to relax and really absorb each other.  Over time, the inconvenience became a blessing that bought us closer together.

Until…

… my place with the Almighty started to become a problem.  Sure, I read the Bible with him, and observed the Sabbath each Friday-Saturday, but he wasn’t comfortable with where I was.  Perhaps his concern came from the fact that I wasn’t making any sacrifices to really please the Almighty.  I connected, and grew spiritually when it was convenient for me.

He started acting on his concern, and tried to show me where I was going wrong.  His attempts just pushed me farther and farther away from him, and the Sabbath became less tolerable.  At that point, when it was time for Sabbath, I nearly dreaded it.

So my purpose for that trip down memory lane?

Questions

• What is the Sabbath?
• Why is it detrimental for one to hold the Sabbath?
• How is one restricted during the Sabbath, and why?
• Does the holding the Sabbath really make the Almighty happy?

You can see the progress on this idea, in the “Ideas in progress” page.