Do you remember a special moment of spiritual awakening that may have come after days or even years of prayer? A moment when the desert of human hopes blossomed, and what had seemed a heavy belief of sin or sickness was proved powerless? This was a sabbath day! Remember it and keep it holy!
Those days of struggling to get out of the belief of living in matter may seem long and difficult, but our day of rest in Truth does come. Mrs. Eddy writes of Joshua and his band before the walls of Jericho, "They went seven times around these walls, the seven times corresponding to the seven days of creation: the six days are to find out the nothingness of matter; the seventh is the day of rest, when it is found that evil is naught and good is all."1
The Scriptures report several instances where those who communed with God marked the place and gave it a special name. Jacob dreamed of a ladder that reached from earth to heaven with angels of God on it, and revered this experience, saying, "Surely the Lord is in this place; and I knew it not." The account tells us, "And Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of it."2 Later he returned to that place and built an altar to God there.3
Christ Jesus was always mindful of the sabbath—the perfection and holiness of God's creation—and he observed it by refusing to accept evil as real. His pure obedience to the fourth commandment— which counsels: "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy"4—vanquished error and exposed both sin and sickness as illusions. His actions were the outcome of his understanding that God, infinite good, is all that really exists and that evil has no power. Are we obedient to this commandment in the way our Master observed it? Do we accept this fact of creation—that "God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good"? This perfect state did not evolve into something less after God's beholding. The Bible explains, "Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them."5 Are we regularly demonstrating this?
The Master's way is simple. Complications and confusion arise when the commandment is viewed from a materialistic standpoint. For many Jews in Jesus' time, observation of the law had become a round of external observances. The outward show was inimical to his teachings, but pressure to conform to the prevailing theories of his day neither delayed nor deterred Jesus' work. He fulfilled the spiritual intent of the law. Those healed must surely have rejoiced in the Saviour's keeping the sabbath holy.
Theories concerning the fourth commandment still abound. Which day is to be remembered? Saturday? Sunday? Should stores be closed or open? Should one perform ordinary labors on the day set aside for rest and worship?
Even without a deeper understanding of the commandment, the simple act of considering this commandment may preserve the sabbath concept in consciousness until we can practice it from the Christly basis Jesus taught. Though we are grateful for even formalized reverence toward this law of God, a more spiritual approach frees us from limiting, traditional beliefs and helps us to understand Jesus' saying, "The sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath."6
One of my sabbath days dawned after weeks of strife with someone who seemed sunk in immorality. This individual's actions caused me much heartache. One morning I called a practitioner and told her the terrible things this person had done. I must have talked nonstop for ten minutes. At the other end, the practitioner sighed, and said, "Oh, that precious lamb of God!"
In that instant, all the ugliness and error fell from my concept of that individual. All I could perceive was God's perfect creation, and I felt no more anger, self-righteous indignation, or resentment. Right where a sinning mortal had seemed to be, I had glimpsed the innocent and pure lamb of God. For me, this was a sabbath day. I have sought to keep it holy by using this experience to refresh my concept of the real man and his unity with God, thereby freeing myself and others from the lie that the divine creation can deviate from its primeval goodness.
The moment when thought coincides with reality is indeed holy. And it becomes a permanent waymark. Mrs. Eddy writes: "Through divine Science, Spirit, God, unites understanding to eternal harmony. The calm and exalted thought or spiritual apprehension is at peace. Thus the dawn of ideas goes on, forming each successive stage of progress."7 When we remember our sabbath days and keep them holy, we find our moments of inspiration and insight as we rest in eternal Truth. We can return to them for renewal, refreshment, and healing.
