A neighborhood book group that I'm in is currently reading Mudhouse Sabbath by Lauren F. Winner. In this book, Winner interprets Jewish tradition and spiritual practice for Christians. As Winner puts it, "It is, to be blunt, about sprititual practices that Jews do better. It is, to be blunter, about Christian practices that would be enriched, that would be thicker and more vibrant, if we took a few lessons from Judaism. It is ultimately about places where Christians have some things to learn." (It's a great book, by the way.)

Sabbath living is one of those areas where things can be learned. All of us were struck by her discussion that Sabbath wasn't simply to be a day of rest, but that it should be a holy day, a day set apart to the Lord your God. A day lived "truly distinct from weekly time." A "fundamental unit" of time around which we organize our lives.

In my neighborhood group we talked about whether or not we really set apart Sundays as truly distinct from weekly time. In other words, work aside, is Sunday unlike any other day in terms of the activities we do? I had to admit that I'm at my computer often on Sundays, not necessarily working, but catching up on personal email or reading websites that I don't have time to during the week. Not bad activities in themselves, enjoyable for the most part, even restful. But as a writer who sits at my computer much of every day of the work week, is it a way to spend Sabbath in a manner that is truly set apart? As you can see, I'm still struggling with this question as it is Sunday and I'm sitting at my computer writing this entry.