Fish Need Rest

I have been a Sabbatarian as far back as I can remember.  My father who was an avid fisherman told me many times that there was no fishing on Sunday.  "The fish need a day of rest," he said.  Later I would learn the fourth commandment which told me, "Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy."  (Exodus 20:8)  Keeping the Sabbath was ingrained in my lifestyle as I was growing up.  There were certain things not done on Sunday even as there were things such as attending worship which were done as surely as the sun came up.    

Sabbatarianism can also spread into other areas of life.  Not only did I come to believe that Sunday was holy (which implied the unholy nature of the other six days), but it was also true that some places were holy while others did not bear such distinction.  This separation got a major re-enforcement in a seminary class which focused on the idea that some places were holy and some place were profane, or not sacred.  Profane places were made sacred by the spiritual experiences of people who encountered the holy in moments of divine revelation.    

All of this underwent a earthquake shift after retirement took me away from the shadow of the church and into the light of the creation.  What began to take root was an awareness that every day is holy because every day comes as a gift from God.  And, while walking day after day on the dirt of creation, there came a conviction that every piece of dirt bears the imprint of the Creator and, therefore is holy.  So, maybe it is not one or the other, but both.  Could it not be that the places designated holy in our midst invite us to see more of the holy around us, and that the day set apart by the Word is to be kept as holy even as we affirm that no time given to us is anything but a sacred gift?