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An essay by Nancy Gibbs in the August 2 issue of Time magazine is a poignant reminder for the rhetorical prioritization of the Sabbath. Unfortunately, Gibbs has not discovered a radical new way to take that Seventh Day of rest, but she has attempted to give us a little origin for how we have slowly lost our conscience for it. No, the Sabbath has not disappeared from us. We have disappeared from it.

I think it would be interesting to see some research that tracks personal debt, material accumulation, obesity, and the breaking up of families alongside the subtle ousting of a personal Sabbath. If we could not shop, eat out, or work one day a week, the input/output of our economy would be cut by 1/7th (presuming all days are equal).

And if our personal debt loads were less, our homes were smaller (because we didn’t have so much stuff), and our waistlines were thinner (because we ate out one less day a week), how would that affect our quality of life? Would we live longer? We would have closer families with better communication?

I am not suggesting that taking a Sabbath is the solution for all of life’s problems, but what if it helped with yours?

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