Thank God, it’s Sunday!
August 8, 2004 | 12:00am
Do not take your Sundays for granted or else someone might take them away! No kidding. Do you know that after the French Revolution, the French government attempted to abolish Sunday as a rest day? Yes, those cynical radicals tried to eradicate the Christian Sabbath and the tradition of Sunday, substituting one day in 10 as rest day instead of the usual one day in seven. Voltaire proclaimed: "We cannot destroy Christianity until we first destroy the Christian Sabbath." Thank God, that wild idea of the French revolutionary regime crumbled in failure. Men and even animals couldn’t stand the loss of Sundays – horses then simply broke down on the streets of France because they were working for 10 days without rest. Going against Sundays and the idea of one rest day per seven days isn’t only defying God, it is also going against the laws of nature.
Sure it’s different strokes for different folks, but almost all cultures have their one rest day or Sabbath per seven days. The Greeks have their Sabbath on Monday, the Persians on Tuesday, the Assyrians on Wednesday, the Egyptians on Thursday, the Turkish on Friday, the people of the Jewish diaspora and Israel have their Sabbath Day on Saturday, and us Christians and much of the world on Sundays.
Can you imagine a week without Sunday rest and leisure? Is it true that resting well on Sundays can actually recharge us physically, emotionally and spiritually, thus increasing our over-all efficiency and happiness for the rest of the week?
It has even been claimed that inanimate objects like cars, razors, air-conditioners, locomotives, computers, planes and machines work far more efficiently and eventually last longer when they’re not used at least once a week. A taxi driver once told this writer that he has to rest his taxi once every week for the vehicle’s longevity and efficiency. Does this mean most cars have become long-lasting due to our mandatory color-coding scheme in Metro Manila?
Once in high school, one of our Christian teachers in Chinese-language class claimed that taking Sundays off can make us better students. She recounted that as a kid, she became a first honor student when she studied well daily but devoted her Sundays exclusively only to church, rest and leisure.
This anecdote reminds me of the true story of that devout Christian athlete Eric Liddell of Britain in the 1924 Olympics as portrayed in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. He wouldn’t run in the qualifying heat of his favorite 100-meter race since it was scheduled on a Sunday, and he wanted to honor God on the Christian Sabbath. The media, which had predicted his victory, and his fans were disappointed and even called him a fool. Liddell refused to run despite pressure from the Olympic committee. A compromise was later reached when a nobleman withdrew from his slot in the 400-meter race, and Liddell competed in the more difficult 400-meter race which he had never trained for. Eric Liddell wowed the crowds and won the gold medal in record-breaking time of 47.6 seconds. This man of principle later served as a missionary in China and died at a war camp during the Japanese invasion.
In England, London costermongers once informed Lord Shaftesbury that their donkeys, which rested one day in seven, could travel 30 miles per day with their loads but those donkeys that labored seven days a week without a rest day could only travel 15 miles per day. They computed that by giving their donkeys one day of rest every week, they actually gained additional 3,900 miles of travel per year and that their donkeys would also become healthier. In contrast, those who overworked their donkeys seven days a week non-stop actually lost 75 miles each week and ended up with sickly donkeys.
Once in America when they used mules in coal mines, a visitor noticed that there were so many mules in pastures spread out in a coal-mining region of Pennsylvania and he inquired why. A coal miner explained that they brought up all the work mules from the underground coal mines every Sunday – or one day a week – to prevent them from going blind or else those mules would eventually lose their eyesight.
What are other scientific justifications for Sunday rest as beneficial for physical and emotional health? A certain Dr. A. Haegler of Basle, Switzerland, once wrote that his experiments showed that during a day’s work a laborer expends more oxygen than he can inhale. At night during sleep, the laborer catches up with much of this oxygen deficiency, but doesn’t regain it all. He said that if the laborer keeps on working six days a week for the same time each day, he will be out of a considerable amount of oxygen, and the only way he can make it up is to take a day off on Sunday in order to fully recover, make up for the deficiency and to square the ledger with nature. It was claimed that if the laborer ignores his body’s need for weekly rest day, he would overstrain his physique, burn out and would die earlier than usual.
For most people, their favorite day of the week is Friday because it is the end of the work or school week. Others eagerly look forward to Saturday for all-night revelry. Most people dread Monday. For this writer, the best day of the week is a well-rested and lazy Sunday. On this day, the streets of Metro Manila have less traffic, bustle, noise, pollution and stress (except for the crowded shopping malls!).
The 19th century British statesman William E. Gladstone believed that what the young people do on Sundays can indicate what a nation’s future will be, saying: "Tell me what the young men of England are doing on Sunday, and I will tell you what the future of England will be." Gladstone, when once asked to speak into a phonograph so that his recorded words would be heard again half a century hence, uttered these simple words about the importance of Sunday rest to his success: "I owe my life and vigor through a long and busy life, to the Sabbath day, with its blessed surcease of toil."
What is the best way to enjoy and spend Sundays? "Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon," Susan Ertz complained. Indeed, lots of people don’t know or plan how to spend their Sundays.
In the first place, who said we have to be so uptight and frenetic about the weekend? Maybe that’s precisely the whole point of Sunday being so great and special – that it’s a day when we can throw our cares away, suspend work, forget all pressures and relax. Let the rest of the world go idly by and simply goof off!
Thanks for all your messages. Comments and suggestions are welcome at wilson_lee_flores@yahoo.com or wilson_lee_flores@hotmail.com or wilson_lee_flores@newyork.com/a or P.O. Box 14277, Ortigas Center, Pasig City.
Sure it’s different strokes for different folks, but almost all cultures have their one rest day or Sabbath per seven days. The Greeks have their Sabbath on Monday, the Persians on Tuesday, the Assyrians on Wednesday, the Egyptians on Thursday, the Turkish on Friday, the people of the Jewish diaspora and Israel have their Sabbath Day on Saturday, and us Christians and much of the world on Sundays.
It has even been claimed that inanimate objects like cars, razors, air-conditioners, locomotives, computers, planes and machines work far more efficiently and eventually last longer when they’re not used at least once a week. A taxi driver once told this writer that he has to rest his taxi once every week for the vehicle’s longevity and efficiency. Does this mean most cars have become long-lasting due to our mandatory color-coding scheme in Metro Manila?
Once in high school, one of our Christian teachers in Chinese-language class claimed that taking Sundays off can make us better students. She recounted that as a kid, she became a first honor student when she studied well daily but devoted her Sundays exclusively only to church, rest and leisure.
This anecdote reminds me of the true story of that devout Christian athlete Eric Liddell of Britain in the 1924 Olympics as portrayed in the 1981 film Chariots of Fire. He wouldn’t run in the qualifying heat of his favorite 100-meter race since it was scheduled on a Sunday, and he wanted to honor God on the Christian Sabbath. The media, which had predicted his victory, and his fans were disappointed and even called him a fool. Liddell refused to run despite pressure from the Olympic committee. A compromise was later reached when a nobleman withdrew from his slot in the 400-meter race, and Liddell competed in the more difficult 400-meter race which he had never trained for. Eric Liddell wowed the crowds and won the gold medal in record-breaking time of 47.6 seconds. This man of principle later served as a missionary in China and died at a war camp during the Japanese invasion.
In England, London costermongers once informed Lord Shaftesbury that their donkeys, which rested one day in seven, could travel 30 miles per day with their loads but those donkeys that labored seven days a week without a rest day could only travel 15 miles per day. They computed that by giving their donkeys one day of rest every week, they actually gained additional 3,900 miles of travel per year and that their donkeys would also become healthier. In contrast, those who overworked their donkeys seven days a week non-stop actually lost 75 miles each week and ended up with sickly donkeys.
Once in America when they used mules in coal mines, a visitor noticed that there were so many mules in pastures spread out in a coal-mining region of Pennsylvania and he inquired why. A coal miner explained that they brought up all the work mules from the underground coal mines every Sunday – or one day a week – to prevent them from going blind or else those mules would eventually lose their eyesight.
What are other scientific justifications for Sunday rest as beneficial for physical and emotional health? A certain Dr. A. Haegler of Basle, Switzerland, once wrote that his experiments showed that during a day’s work a laborer expends more oxygen than he can inhale. At night during sleep, the laborer catches up with much of this oxygen deficiency, but doesn’t regain it all. He said that if the laborer keeps on working six days a week for the same time each day, he will be out of a considerable amount of oxygen, and the only way he can make it up is to take a day off on Sunday in order to fully recover, make up for the deficiency and to square the ledger with nature. It was claimed that if the laborer ignores his body’s need for weekly rest day, he would overstrain his physique, burn out and would die earlier than usual.
The 19th century British statesman William E. Gladstone believed that what the young people do on Sundays can indicate what a nation’s future will be, saying: "Tell me what the young men of England are doing on Sunday, and I will tell you what the future of England will be." Gladstone, when once asked to speak into a phonograph so that his recorded words would be heard again half a century hence, uttered these simple words about the importance of Sunday rest to his success: "I owe my life and vigor through a long and busy life, to the Sabbath day, with its blessed surcease of toil."
What is the best way to enjoy and spend Sundays? "Millions long for immortality who do not know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon," Susan Ertz complained. Indeed, lots of people don’t know or plan how to spend their Sundays.
In the first place, who said we have to be so uptight and frenetic about the weekend? Maybe that’s precisely the whole point of Sunday being so great and special – that it’s a day when we can throw our cares away, suspend work, forget all pressures and relax. Let the rest of the world go idly by and simply goof off!
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