Wondrous Time (Exodus 20:8)

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy (Exodus 20:8).

That’s the fourth of the Ten Commandments. It concludes the commandments concerning our relationship with God. The next six concern our relationships with other people. By the way, those commandments start with one concerning our parents.

We rightly interpret any passage from the Bible, including this commandment, by understanding it in its context. For any biblical passage, the final context in which we need to understand is Jesus Christ.

With Jesus, what once were commandments now become invitations. Today Jesus calls us to remember and hallow each Sunday. Even more, the Holy Spirit grants us all the power we need to hear these words of Jesus as invitation and cheerfully do them.

Remaining Mindful that Institutions Tip from Good to Evil

Generally, organized social groups begin when several individuals believe they can accomplish greater good by working together than by continuing to struggle separately. The good accomplished by the group initially outweighs the demands made on each individual. Eventually, however, comes the tipping point. After that, the organization parasitically makes increasingly destructive demands on the individuals participating in it.

In his book, An Historian’s Approach to Religion (1956), English historian Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) notes that this pattern was true of even a municipal state as great as Athens at the beginning and end of its golden age.