Sabbath: Morning

When people of Christian background or persuasion think about the Sabbath, most of them tend to think of Sunday morning. It's the traditional time for group worship services, often followed by a special meal with family and friends.

As a person who stayed as far as possible from churches for about half my life, I rarely thought about Sunday morning as the Sabbath. When I was in graduate school, I did try to keep Sunday free from meetings or rehearsal commitments (usually a losing battle), but that had more to do with fighting physical fatigue and trying to defend time to keep up with my academic workload than it did with any spiritual impulse.

It still, frankly, bugs me that I go to church. I don't know whether or how I'll resolve that. But that's not really what this chapter is about.

With this chapter, Muller recommends and recounts different ways that people can use morning time to practice the Sabbath. He describes individual and family traditions ranging from verbal prayer to meditation to outdoor athletics to the "slotha yoga" he referred to in an earlier chapter.

There's nothing in the chapter that is especially revolutionary when taken on its own. What makes Muller's approach somewhat innovative is how broadly he answers the implied question "How can one celebrate or establish Sabbath in the morning?" Many people's answer would be "Go to church." Full stop. Muller brings much greater breadth of mind than that.

For me, the best way to ruin my day is to make me rush in the morning. Now, I tend to be on time for things. Since I'm singing in the choir at the Church of What's Happenin' Now, Northern Outpost, that means I need to be in the building by 9:30. So I let my alarm go off as early on Sundays as I do during the week, and that gives me time to arise somewhat slowly and gently, shower and dress, make a real breakfast (legacy from my father, who worked his way through college as a short-order cook and later established the practice of Sunday morning breakfast for my family, including the dog, who ate eggs and bacon with the rest of us) and clean up before I have to leave.

I wouldn't strictly count any of that as Sabbath in the spiritual or theistic sense. But it's damned healthy for me, whatever label you paste over it. And by the time the 10:00 service begins, I am alert and focused for whatever message that service may bring, and usually ready to pay good, loving attention to the people in the congregation.

I also think it helps to live someplace that is so remarkably beautiful in the morning. If I have the time and inclination, I can walk two blocks south from my apartment building and stand on the bluff overlooking the beach and the Pacific, passing gorgeous flower gardens and noting the neighborhood Buddhist monastery that stands on the corner by the ocean. (It used to be an RCC facility -- they still have a "Virgin Mary in the grotto" on the lawn.) And it is always sunny. It. Is. Always. Sunny. Just try to be grumpy in the morning after walking a couple of blocks in the cool, clear sunlight.

Thus endeth the Sabbath rambling for this week. Links here to Cristopher's and Tripp's posts, if and when.