What is your Saturday routine? Popular pre-Covid 19 options were: a hike, lunch with friends, or a night out. Perhaps you prefer gardening, doing the laundry, or catching up on email.
How should we approach the historic day of Sabbath as Christians who worship on Sunday, recalling Easter? Should we transfer all prior expectations about the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? If that is what we are supposed to do, we are all in deep trouble. We are not accustomed to forgoing all forms of work on Sunday. When we leave church, we may shop, clean, or cook.
"Grant that we, putting away all earthly anxieties, may be duly prepared for the service of your sanctuary."
"Putting away all earthly anxieties" is a perfect focus for our Saturdays, clearing our minds and souls from turbulence and making us ready to hear what the Spirit may say to God's people on Sunday.
Any of the activities listed above can help us do that, if approached with that mission in mind. I like to pull weeds, because it distracts me from stewing. In the Gospel for today's Daily office readings, the disciples are stewing over the Pharisees. Jesus tells them to "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind."
Matthew 15:14.
So, pull weeds, sew, cook, clean, bird-watch or whatever else will help you clear your mind.
