Article April 26, 1952 ISSUE

THE FOURTH COMMANDMENT

THOMAS E. PRICE

The fourth commandment begins by requiring that the Sabbath day shall be kept holy. It also includes the statement that the Lord blessed and hallowed the seventh day. The original purpose, however, of setting this day apart as a day of rest, was not always achieved. Different religions have set apart different days for special observance. The Mohammedan sets aside Friday, the Jew Saturday, the Christian Sunday, but no one day of the week intrinsically possesses more spiritual characteristics than any other. To many, Sunday is just a day in which to relax from material labor, a day for material pleasure or for prolonged sleep in the morning hours. For many, it has ceased to be a special and happy opportunity for spiritual study, growth, and refreshment.

One reference in the Bible to a holy day, the original meaning of holiday, is to be found in the forty-second Psalm, and it is significant that the observance of this day by the Psalmist and the multitude consisted in going to "the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise." What a happy event that must have been! No wearisome rush to and from some scene of supposed pleasure, resulting in the yearning for another holiday in which to recover. Church attendance on that early Biblical occasion was no dreary duty, nor is it today to Christian Scientists, who have found in attending services gladness instead of gloom, praise instead of penance, inspiration instead of irritation.

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