All Work and No Play

Observing the Sabbath has got to be the most frequently violated commandment of the Big 10. It seems like every time Sunday comes around, we think "God couldn't have been that serious about this, I mean, I've got all this work that needs to be done." On her Xanga, my friend Jennie identified the unique characteristic of University of Chicago students to be that they constantly make excuses not to have fun, as opposed to "normal" people who would do the opposite. Indeed the past year has been pretty crazy for me. With a thesis constantly on my mind, and having to write more pages of text than I have ever attempted in my entire life, I've been in perpetual "crisis" mode for the past 2 semesters -- that is to say that I'm constantly trying to maximize my use of time by doing things like eating dinners in my room so that I don't waste time walking to the dining hall, etc. It's been pretty crazy considering that I need my 8 hours of sleep every night, so every waking moment is so very precious.

In church today, my pastor made the case that the reason why God wants us to observe the Sabbath is not simply because he doesn't want us to burn out, or because resting a day makes us more productive the rest of the week. Instead it's because He wants us to realize that we are loved not based on our achievements but because we are His children. Our value is not in the things we do or the things we accomplish, but in our relationship with God. That is certainly something very difficult for many of us to swallow. Whether we admit it or not, we place our security in things like grades or productivity, and just cannot fathom the idea that God may just love us for who we are and not what we do. Now this is not a blank check to go slack off somewhere and be irresponsible, but rather a reminder for us to be ever conscious of the reason for our striving here on earth. The Protestant work ethic is great, but if it becomes the measure of our status in God's eyes, then that's pretty messed up.