![[Photo of a Scripture verse]](https://www.deankwilson.com/Blog_images/Ecclesiastes_4_6a.jpg)
| “…Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil…” |
| —Ecclesiastes 4:6a |
A Sabbath Day of Rest, or the most common expression of this concept, has almost totally disappeared in our current society. I’ve remarked before that in my childhood of the 1950s the only store open on Sunday in my hometown of 18,000 people was a small cigar store in the downtown. This store also sold newspapers from around the country, which explained why it was open on Sunday.
I’m not kidding! All grocery stores were closed. All drug stores were closed—although they had emergency phone numbers posted in case you needed to reach the pharmacist. Almost all gasoline service stations were closed. The “Five and Dimes” and hardware stores were closed. Many restaurants were closed. Only a few of the seedier bars were open.
It was Sunday. It was supposed to be a day of rest. And, people took it seriously. In the summer, they might take a picnic lunch to the nearby state park. Afternoon drives in the countryside were common—gasoline cost only 18 cents per gallon! Extended family got together for Sunday dinner. Friends visited at each other’s houses. Almost everyone went to church.
My Jewish friends used to laugh and say, “We have a double Shabbat: Our regular one on Friday evening through Saturday evening, and the Christian one on Sunday! We get two days off instead of just one! Even we Fundamentalist Christians couldn’t stray too far from home on Sunday because we had both Sunday morning and Sunday evening services.
The concept of Sabbath Rest was very real. And, I truly believe it made for a better society.
The concept of Sabbath Rest touched King Solomon, as well. After writing about the futility of labor, he makes this observation, found in Ecclesiastes 4:5-6:
Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves. Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind.
He’s saying, “Yes, it’s important that we labor. We can’t just sit around like fools. But, from time to time a person needs to grab a handful of tranquity to balance out the futility of labor.”
How about you and me? Do we really grasp the importance of Sabbath Rest. Do we so overextend ourselves that Sunday becomes just another day? Oh, we may attend church on Sunday morning. But, the rest of the day is treated just like any other. We fill it with every imaginable activity conducted at a frantic pace.
While we cannot return to the tranquil days of the 1950s, maybe we need to rethink what we do on the Sabbath. Maybe we need to tap into the amused observation of my dear Jewish friends of more than half a century ago and take advantage of a genuine Shabbat.
