The Sabbath Day

[LeSellers]

What I don't get is why the day, for some people, is like a prison cell. I remember growing up and despising the Sabbath when I was younger. It was a day of monotony and restriction. You can't play with friends, engage in any real activities, you can't buy a drink if your thirsty or watch your favorite TV show. You had to sit in boring meetings all morning and then come home and sit in a prison cell where you second guess everything you do and say. I couldn't wait for the day to be over so I could be normal again.

Those who feel this don't have the spirit of the Law of the Sabbath. The Sabbath was designed to be "a delight".

As Jesus told us, it was made for man. That does not mean, as many people tend to twist it, that we can ignore it and do whatever makes us "feel good" about it. It means we get to rest (the meaning of the word in the first place) from our labors (which includes the sisters whose "labors" normally include cooking meals: we are told that our meals should be simple this day: think "manna" on the Sabbath during the Exodus).

Our labors is likely to mean our normal activities, irrespective of whether they are "work" or something else (like studying physics). We get to concentrate on the spiritual, rather than the mundane/worldly. Cows must be milked, eggs gathered, but in those cases (and all the other "must-be-dones"), our thoughts are not directed at the ordinary, but the celestial.

Those who have the spirit of the Sabbath may, as I did for decades, serve in the Military and still "honor the Sabbath day". It is a prison for those who want to be doing their regular activities, rather than worshipping the Lord, even if it must be accomplished while cleaning an M-16 or pulling one's ox out of the ditch.

BTW, meetings are "boring" for those who do not participate, even though that participation is solely in their minds and through their spirits. I'm not claiming this is a universal measure, but I have noticed that those who sing the hymns of Zion during meetings (even those who, like me, have no particular talent therein) are those who find the meetings the most engaging. Whether singing makes the meetings more interesting or making the meetings personally more interesting makes the singing desirable, I do not know. It's just something I've observed. (O, the poor Saints who find themselves sitting near me during the hymns: they must suffer horribly, yet they seem pleasant afterwards, nonetheless. Of late, a sister who is hard-of-hearing has taken to sitting near my Jacquie—who sings very well, mind you—and me. One wonders if there's a connection.)

On this matter, it may be that Earl Nightingale (look him up) had some good advice: We become what we think about all day long. Our actions mold our thoughts (not the other way ‘round). If you want to enjoy meetings, sing the hymns, and sing them with gusto, even if your gift is not the art of the pleasant voice.

Lehi

Edited September 6, 2011 by LeSellers

[Zakuska]

Well I think we've made a good list on what can be done on Sunday.

1) Visit the sick, Heal the Sick. (Dr. Clinics and Hosptials)

2) Visit Family

3) Eating Out and food preparation (Arguable: Christ seems to say its alright eating corn from a field on the sabbath and the Priests prepare food in the Temple )

4) Fueling your car if it happens to be out of Gas (Christ says the Jews were hypocrites because they water their Tapirs on the Sabbath and pull their ox's out of the mire on a Sabbath)

Heres an intresting one from the Lord through Jeremiah:

Jeremiah 17

23 But they obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction.

24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;

25 Then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall remain for ever.

Carrying a burden into the Gates of Jerusalem on a Sabbath is a no no.

So:

1) Don't Move on a Sabbath.

2) Don't deliever firniture or mail or packages on a Sabbath.

Edited September 6, 2011 by Zakuska