Enforced Sabbath

Dearest Rachel –

This was going to be titled ‘Peace on Earth(?)’ or some such, with an extended acknowledgment that the earth isn’t necessarily peaceful on this day any more than any other (although the fine print on the angels’ proclamation about peace and goodwill to men specified that it applied to those ‘with whom God is pleased’ or ‘who find favor with Him,’ depending on the translation; those who do not seek God cannot be expected to receive His peace or goodwill).

But the more the day goes on, the more it feels like – at least on a personal level – a perfectly peaceful one. Stepping out into the open air, as we prepared to make our way to the folks’ place this morning, it was astonishing to me to see a completely empty street. You might remember dancing in the middle of those four lanes during one of the years the Bulls won a championship, as a demonstration of how no one was out and about at the moment, but glued to their television sets as part of the celebration? Yes, well, this felt very much like that, except in broad daylight – or as close to it as one can get, this close to the solstice. Actually, that might be stretching things to consider it broad daylight; it was daylight, yes, but only just seven in the morning at the time. Then again, your typical Thursday morning would be seething with vehicular traffic, especially at such an hour.

But today is Christmas, and while our nominally Christian nation doesn’t observe the – or even a – Sabbath the way our Jewish brethren in Israel do, today is about as close as we ever come to doing so. Which is somewhat ironic, as said Jewish brethren – including Daniel’s friend and housemate Logan – find themselves therefore at something of a loose end, with little to do now that Hanukkah is over, nowhere to go, and only Chinese restaurants to eat out at (unless the owner is a Taiwanese Christian, which limits their options that much more). Then again, Logan at least has a freezer full of foodstuffs, so it’s not as if he’s likely to starve over the next twenty hours or so – and as far as entertainment goes, the internet is such that one never has to get bored.

That is a way in which this enforced Sabbath differs from those in Israel; while the commercial life of the country shuts down for twenty-four hours, we have no proscriptions against lighting fires or using electricity or anything like that. It’s not even required to be a day of rest, as such – and any parents of small children reading over your shoulder will acknowledge that with all the exhausted vehemence they can muster – although, in our family, just about everyone is old enough that we’re not charging about the house with any new ‘toys’ like that. We’re taking it easy, and occasionally doing our part to assist with whatever needs to be done in the kitchen for dinner (including using the means at our disposal to heat this dish and that!)

Of course, in the lead-up to the moment, we tend to forget what this day can be like. I filled my wallet yesterday evening, as I’d all but emptied it yesterday en route to church in an effort to obtain caffeine for the four services I was to work on Christmas Eve. But once I had the money in my pocket, I realized there wasn’t much point in doing so, as there wasn’t going to be any need to have it today. Everything is shut down today; the retailers who have been insisting that we buy for this day have either reached their goal or not, now that the day is upon us. Even the parents, who have only now discovered that the toy they have bought for their little ones requires batteries, are out of luck until tomorrow.

Interestingly enough, I’ve been put in a similar situation as those hapless parents; at one point during the family’s ritual of distributing and unwrapping packages, Dad asked if I would take a pen of his to any local office products store for refill cartridges. I’d be more than happy to do so, but obviously that’s not possible today – and I’m concerned about forgetting what I’ve agreed to, so I’m telling you about it here and now, so you can hold me accountable to this promise come tomorrow.

Meanwhile, on an unrelated note (particularly since it doesn’t touch any of us directly), I’m hearing that the Metra train lines in the area have fallen silent today. Not exactly because of the holiday itself, but because so many of its drivers have taken the day off that they don’t have anyone left to run the trains. So it would seem that the de facto Sabbath that is Christmas will be enforced that much wider than usual today. I hope everyone who needs it either has a well-stocked freezer, or knows a good Chinese place nearby…

In any event, honey, keep an eye on all of us, and wish us luck today, because it looks like we’re going to need it.