I had a flashback on my way over to Starbucks tonight. I was remembering back to a children's music concert I had gone to with my friend Bob at his synagogue back in 6th grade. Two guys, brothers, sang songs like "Aiken's Drum" and "Everyone Loves a Saturday Night". I can still picture them playing and singing after all these years...
Everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody, everybody loves a Saturday night...
Honestly, I didn't get the song at that time but they were exuberant and it was pretty catchy. Now I realize it was a song about the end of Sabbath. Everybody loves a Saturday night because it means, "no more Sabbath rules, no more synagogue meetings, no more uncomfortable clothes, no more religiousy stuff for another week. Time to let our hair down and have some fun."
This morning my family and I sat at the table with a box full of donuts from Rudi's Bakery in Roscoe Village, everyone in their pj's at 11am and a fresh cup of coffee in front of me. I was moved in the moment and I just blurted out, "I love Saturdays! I love getting up late, eating donuts, hanging out and having nothing on my agenda. I love Saturday." I think Olivia kissed me and said, "me too daddy." (She loves to chime in.)
It's our rhythm to take Saturdays and make them different. From Friday night to Saturday night, we cease working. It's a cleanout, a recharge, a rhythm buster and at the same time a rhythm sustainer, its whatever we want to do and its doing nothing at all, its raking and cleaning the attic or laying on the floor at 1 in the afternoon and wrestling my son. We even have Saturday pants--"Hey, take those off and put on some Saturday pants, mister!" Saturday is different than all the rest and it always throws me off a bit, but in the best way possible. I love it.
And I also love Saturday night. Saturday night is my final check off with Sunday's message. I sometimes stay home and cloister myself. More often lately I run to Starbucks, grab a half caf grande, pop in my iPod phones and get alone with Jesus. Its a rhythm I really love. I come home Saturday night refreshed, excited, renewed. Its "back to work" but I reenter my ministry calling with fresh eyes and a renewed heart.
And ringing in my ears are those words of Jesus:
"The Sabbath was made for man (not man for the Sabbath)."
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