It has often struck me as kind of odd that “Thou shall keep the Sabath Day Holy” is the #3 or #4 (depending on the version) in the Ten Commandments
I don’ think there is a kind of order of importance for these ten, but being up there in the top 5, seems put an emphasis on this directive that doesn’t manifest into our society and civil laws as well as many of the other commandments like don’t kill, steal, commit adultery, etc.
But maybe it is very important for we humans to have a day off once a week? And may it be doubly important for our globe, at this point in our massive population surge and related environmental catastrophes?
The recent Covid-related lock-downs have shown the world what happens when we stop the 24/7 world in which we live. Birds returned and sang, waters cleared and fish returned, skies opened to show the beauty of the mountains and oceans for many city-dwellers who hadn’t seen them in years and, possibly, life-times for the young.
Can we imagine a world that more-or-less stops one day a week–like my world used to do in my youth growing up in Edmonton, Alberta, when we still upheld The Lord’s Day Act? What other benefits besides lessening our brutal treatment of our planet would there be? Better health and less disease? More peace and less war? etc…
I know that stopping our 24/7, jet-speed world for one of the commandments will never happen these days, but one of the things that Covid has shown us, is that it is possible to stop the inessential stuff and still carry on.
