Today was my first Sunday in a new ward, and we had a really good Elder’s quorum lesson on keeping the Sabbath day holy. This is an area of living the gospel that I really need to improve on, and I need to both stop doing things that aren’t appropriate for the Sabbath and start doing things that are.
My question is this: in your opinion, is it breaking the Sabbath to work on a particular story that you’re writing?
It’s not as spiritual as reading the scriptures or doing service, but it’s not as worldly as watching TV or playing Halo. It is an activity that requires creative thought, and I suppose that it does have the potential to draw you closer to the savior if you can see gospel principles in action in the story you’re telling. On the other hand, it can really distract if the story is full of bloodshed and craziness.
I’m pretty liberal when it comes to Sabbath day worship, but I think I’ve been a little too loose in the past, and now I need to set up some personal guidelines to help preserve the spirit of the day. That’s why I’d appreciate the feedback.
I know that everyone is going to have different ways of living this commandment, and that’s perfectly fine. What helps one person to keep the Sabbath holy may or may not help another person, and what distracts from one person may or may not distract from another (for example, I think I need to stop browsing my blog subscriptions on Sunday!)
What I really need is some way of thinking about it. I really don’t know on what terms to consider this; why exactly it would or would not be considered a Sunday appropriate activity. That’s why I’d like to hear your thoughts.
This is a hard question question for many and truth be told, it can only be answered individually.
I, personally, do not write on Sunday simple because I consider my writing my career and since I wouldn’t work on Sunday on a normal job, I treat writing the same. I’ve found that not writing on Sunday to be very relieving since it’s the only day when I don’t have to worry about the story and I can just relax and refresh my creative batteries by doing other things like drawing.
However, that is my personal opinion and I know several that have differing opinions. It’s just up to you and how you feel about it.
Good luck 🙂
I value more and more the intent of the law, “day of rest.” God rested. He stopped creating, as I understand the sequence in Genesis, and he rested. Now how God rests, I don’t know exactly. But he saw that what he had created was good. And he gave himself a rest. I believe the spirit of the law incorporates the key scriptural concept, “rest.”
My take on it is if I plan on eventually trying to sell the piece of writing that I am working on, I shouldn’t work on it on Sunday. That way I could still do personal writing, such as blogging, journaling, and personal history on Sunday.
Sharon, that’s an interesting point that you bring up that God rested from creating. I shall consider it.
Thanks. I didn’t realize that that’s why you don’t write on Sunday, Anneka, but it makes sense. Seeing writing as a source of income does make it seem a bit inappropriate, or at least a blatant exception to the general rule. And thanks, Mom, for the thought–I don’t know either why or how God would rest, but it’s definitely an important thing if He had to do it! Interesting stuff. I’ll consider this when I make plans for next week.