This Sabbath, instead of praying on my back porch with my Bible, I played. The whole family had a free day, so we chose to have a little fun. The day was defined by what we did, rather than by what we abstained from.
We shopped for Christmas presents. We saw a movie that was so worshipfull that it made us cry. We looked at holiday lights around town. We gathered our sleeping bags in the living room for hot cocoa, football, and Santa stories.
This was a celebratory Sabbath — different from my usual quiet, meditative ones. Still holy. The kind of holiness that got Jesus in trouble with the Pharisees for being a glutton and a drunkard. (Do popcorn and hot cocoa count?)
This Sabbath we did not work. We did not worry. We hung a shining star upon the highest bar and had ourselves a merry little Sabbath.
May you have one, too.
