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Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" (Luke 14:5)
Then he asked them, "If one of you has a son or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull him out?" (Luke 14:5)
I have never had an ox fall in a well on the Sabbath day. However, I do have three sons that eat, well...like oxen.
The plan was to come home after basketball games and finish planting the garden before dinner so that we would be ready to go to the end-of-the-season awards banquet in the evening. It was a good plan. It just didn't happen. We had to make a quick stop at the grocery store for provisions. That set us back. By the time we arrived at home, it was time to prepare dinner. After all, a person must save their sons and their oxen, even on the Sabbath day. Sometimes that means dragging them out of a well. Sometimes it means securing provisions and fixing dinner.
As a result, no plants were planted.
After dinner, it was time to go to the banquet. The banquet was quite long and not really a banquet. Only light refreshments were served. The oxen were quickly becoming famished. It was the Sabbath day, but we felt like we must save them. So, after the banquet, we went and had ice cream. By the time we arrived at the barn and herded the children to bed, it was dark.
As a result, no plants were planted.
It was frustrating, but in the end it was OK. Maybe that is a change regular Sabbath is beginning to work in me...if I don't get to it when I had planned, I know it will still be OK. I'm learning to be in the moment and there were many moments worth being in on our impromptu Sabbath day. There were moments spent with the boys doing something they love and then celebrating their hard work with them. There were precious moments around the dinner table as a family eating good food. There was ice cream sprinkled with laughter. There were moments of holy time redeemed from the well of busyness that seems to inundate most of the rest of my week.
Though Monday came hard and fast, I know that the subtle whisper and strong embrace of the Sabbath day will sustain me all week. I feel good about saving the livestock and I know that the plants will eventually be planted.
As a result, no plants were planted.
After dinner, it was time to go to the banquet. The banquet was quite long and not really a banquet. Only light refreshments were served. The oxen were quickly becoming famished. It was the Sabbath day, but we felt like we must save them. So, after the banquet, we went and had ice cream. By the time we arrived at the barn and herded the children to bed, it was dark.
As a result, no plants were planted.
It was frustrating, but in the end it was OK. Maybe that is a change regular Sabbath is beginning to work in me...if I don't get to it when I had planned, I know it will still be OK. I'm learning to be in the moment and there were many moments worth being in on our impromptu Sabbath day. There were moments spent with the boys doing something they love and then celebrating their hard work with them. There were precious moments around the dinner table as a family eating good food. There was ice cream sprinkled with laughter. There were moments of holy time redeemed from the well of busyness that seems to inundate most of the rest of my week.
Though Monday came hard and fast, I know that the subtle whisper and strong embrace of the Sabbath day will sustain me all week. I feel good about saving the livestock and I know that the plants will eventually be planted.
Church Stopping. Less doing. More being.
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