Definitely better

It is definitely better not to whine! Yesterday was a fine day, something like a Sabbath. No pressure to get anything done. I puttered when I wanted to, or slept, or rested, or read. It was so cold and windy outside that we walked the aisles of a grocery store to get a little exercise. I feel no worse today, and we're planning to go to church.

I finished reading Beginnings, by Spencer Marsh. In connection with Day Seven of creation week, he says this:

"Some folks in Holland call the Sabbath 'God's Dke.' A helpful analogy. The dyke is a protective sea wall that holds back the surging waves and allows people to live in areas that would otherwise be utterly uninhabitable. The Sabbath is like that. Just like a dyke keeps the quiet Holland farmlands from being engulfed by the Atlantic, a day of rest can keep us from being engulfed by destructive value systems and the corrosive pressures of contemporary society. Humans are such pliable creatures. Immersed in the push-and-shove of daily living, we are in danger of being squeezed into a misshapen caricature of what God intended us to become. The Sabbath is God's opportunity to remold us into His image.

"With so many bent on reducing our world to spiritual shambles, there has to be a place where we can find refuge. A place where the priorities of living are justice and righteousness rather than self and success. A place where cooperation is valued over competition, beauty over chaos, health over indulgence, love over bigotry, and family over fame. A place where bread is better than bombs, sacrifice is better than gluttony, sharing is better than hoarding, and good news stirs more excitement than bad news. The Sabbath is such a place.

"There have been long, gray periods ofhistory when the observance of the Sabbath became a matter of pale legalism, drained of vitality, devoid of joy. During such epochs the Sabbath became little more than another dreary burden. But then whenever revival and renewal came to the people, joy returned to the Sabbath."

Need I point out that church and Sabbath are rarely synonymous? Perhaps they don't need to be.

I wish I'd read this book years ago. After reading Day Six, about animals, I would have spent much more time in zoos, marveling at the inventiveness of the Creator.

Thanks again for your personal love and prayers. How I wish I could thank you personally!

Love,
Carol