Sabbath Revisited (Time)

Sabbath Revisited (Time)

Waltke quotes Heschel, who says, “But time is the heart of existence.” And later “It is a triumph frequently achieved by sacrificing and essential ingredient of existence, namely, time.”

Is time the heart of existence? I have often seen myself as fighting against time or waiting for time to do it’s thing (pass by). When thinking of time, I have a difficulty understanding it. What is it? It’s measurable. Is it a substance? I can’t conceive of a world without time. Perhaps that is what is meant by time is the heart of existence.

I have personally thought of time as being the change of physical things or as Heschel puts it, space. Without consistent change, such as day/ night, rivers, waves, would people have developed a time sense. If I think of a spot in outer space where no matter exists, I guess that there is still time there because of the changes in energy passing through that space. It seems that time is bound to the existence of space. So I, being a form in space, have time bound to me as much as I am bound to time. So it does seem that time is an essential ingredient to existence. Yet I, or other space that excludes me, am an essential ingredient of time.

So what did you think of my immature musings on time? Am I crazy, boring, or a genius who just doesn’t know it? Do I need better organization skills, or better grammar? Is this not your topic of choice? What would be?

Write me a comment. Thanks for reading.

Sabbath

... It can be inferred from the creation narrative that the Sabbath is a day to recognize and celebrate the significance of time. We are not just creatures of space but also creatures of time. As Heschel observes, “Technical civilization is man’s conquest of space. In technical civilization, we expend time to gain space. To enhance our power in the world of space is our main objective. Yet to have more does not mean to be more. The power we attain in the world of space terminates abruptly at the borderline of time. But time is the heart of existence.” Participating in God’s rest gives us significance as we reflect on what we have done and allows us to participate in something eternal.

In the imitation of God’s rest, we find our sustenance in God and the true meaning of our labor and God’s good creation. Again Heschel comments, “To disparage space and the blessing of things of space, is to disparage the works of creation. the works which God beheld and saw ‘it was good’... Time and space are interrelated.... What we plead against is man’s unconditional surrender to space, his enslavement to things. We must not forget that it is not a thing that lends significance to a moment; it is the moment that lend significance to things.”

This is taken from:

Bruce K. Waltke, Genesis (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2001) 73

Quotes:

A. J. Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1986) 3

Disposable Culture

Often I don’t notice the increasing trend of making products disposable. Where does it come from; the desire to make and buy things of a small enough value that they are easily discarded? Why is it desirable to make one time use items, so that after it is used it is worthless? Some things that come to mind are convenience, laziness and cost. It seems easier and cheaper to throw something away to reuse it. If it is out of sight, it is out of mind.

When I think of disposable, I think of diapers, plastic bags and bottles, but one thing that a person doesn’t think of that I would argue is definitely disposable is teflon coated pots and pan.

Teflon is quite a remarkable material. It really reduces friction. It can withstand fairly heigh temperatures. The problem is that when it is coating a pot or pan, a metal utensil will scratch it and scrape it off. I am pretty particular about using only plastic utensils on teflon, but even I forget on the occasion. I am sure that there is someone out there who never uses metal on their teflon. However, it is my estimate that by far the majority of teflon users use metal and scratch their pots.

I know that many people believe that the ingestion of teflon will cause health problems. The most notable that I can remember is the accusation that eating teflon pieces will contribute to the development of Alzheimer's disease. I don’t know the validity of these perspectives but it does seem to me to be some reason to avoid using a extremely scratched pot.

An amazing alternative to the disposable teflon pot is cast iron and steel pots and pans. They can be seasoned to become non-stick. My experience is that they work very well in this way. They are easy to clean, and can be scrubbed vigorously without worry. It is true they are not meant for the dishwasher. But I have a steel wok that I use often, for many types of dishes. To clean it I just use a scrubber with water and then towel dry. Another great thing about these types of pans is that they can be handed down from generation to generation. If they get rusty, they can be lightly sanded and re-seasoned. Another thing is, cast iron puts small amounts of iron into the food which the body needs for healthy blood; compared to teflon which the body doesn’t need at all.

I Like It Hot

I have been talking about eating with purpose. One thing that forces me to slow down when I eat is having my food hot. I can clearly remember times when I was frustrated at my lack of sensual satisfaction because my food was too hot to pile into my mouth. I was so impatient that I burned my mouth. Then I whined because of what I did to myself. Had I paused and used the time that the food was cooling to change my attitude, I would have had a more satisfying perspective and I would have been able to enjoy the taste of the food without a burnt tongue. So, serve it hot. The temperature will make you slow down. Whether or not you use the opportunity is up to you.

I Live Like I Eat

I have a desire to live with the same intention that I have been talking about eating with. I am tired of an entitled mindset that doesn’t fleetingness of the luxury of American living. I want to be mindful of the wonder of my touchscreen ipod that can among other things instantly access information from all over the world. At the same time as this I want to be aware that it can easily become utterly insignificant in eternity depending on what I use it for and why I use it.

I want to be thankful for the heat that is in my house. I don’t want to have the attitude that if I am cold I should be able to turn up the heat, as opposed to merely wearing a few more layers. I want to acknowledge that what I have is a gift, things such as safe housing, clean drinking water, and delicious food.

What I am talking about is that when I engage the physical and non physical aspects of the world, I want honor God. I am starting with what I know, that is inanimate things. Perhaps I may work to relationships.

A Festival Everyday

I wrote earlier about eating with good intentions. I talked about eating in a more regimented way that makes the focus of eating a method to thank God.

It seems to me that the many festivals in the old testament did this sort of thing. Think of the Passover. There were very specific items on the menu, even down to the spices. Everything at the table had meaning. The bitter herbs were to remind the eater of the hard toil in Egypt, for example. The people participating in the festival were not supposed to eat blindly, merely to get to the next thing in the day. The were meant to eat and remember, to eat and think.

There are two interesting things that I want to talk about. One is how the menu is not just oriented around what will taste good. There is the unleavened bread. That sounds tasty. But even a bitter taste has a purpose in the meal. It is important in learning a lesson. What bitter food do I have that I could eat to remind me of some hard thing that the Lord has delivered me from? Maybe I could then eat something sweet to remember God’s forgiveness.

The second is, the bitter herbs were meant to remind the eater of the hard life in Egypt. Yet when the nation of Israel was wandering in the wilderness they kept saying things like, “We would be better off in Egypt. At least we had melon and other foods there.” The Lord gave the nation a tool to help themselves avoid this attitude. Durning the Passover, the eating of the bitter herbs was supposed to remind them of how bad Egypt was and to not go back that way, not to mention that the whole Passover festival was meant to remind of how bad Egypt was and of God’s miraculous rescue. I feel astonished at the nation’s actions. Not only did they have this tool, but they were eating bread from heaven, manna. They didn’t even have to work for it.

Although I feel astonished, I am a human too. I act like this. I let my mind tell me that things in the past that were bad (like sin) aren’t that bad. I also get calloused and forget to recognize the wonderful things that the Lord gives me. I also forget that the Lord gives me wonderful tools like the bitter herbs to help me live rightly. Like the nation of Israel I forget to use these tools. I want to learn. I want to change I want to use the tools and have a festival every day.

Eating Like a Pagan

Eating seems to have a special significance. I have heard this expressed before with the logic that since the first sin was committed with food, eating must be significant. Beside that, there is the fact that the Lord chose to use a supper to remind us of his sacrifice.
With this in mind, I would say that since the time that all foods were declared “clean”, it isn’t what one eats (within reason) that is important, it is more of why one eats that is important and how much one eats. I want to talk about two reasons for eating that are reasons that the world eats. This is what I mean by the title of eating like a pagan.
The two reasons could be seen as on a spectrum. On one end is abject eating, eating only to sustain one’s body. This reason for eating ignores that food is made beautiful and that the various flavors are meant to be enjoyed properly.
On the other end of the spectrum, is eating only for pleasure. Personally, I find this way of eating to be just as empty as the other. It encompasses having a criteria for food based only on taste. Also the eater is eating to have a taste-oriented sensual experience. I find that when I eat for this reason I end up overeating because I want more taste pleasure. I think that this reason for eating is the most common in American culture. At fast food places the flavor is amped up regardless of the effect on peoples bodies. Many pre-made foods at the grocery store are loaded up with sugars, fats and salts. These items taste good but in such high quantities are causing major health problems.
I heard a sermon at Mars Hill, Grand Rapids. The speaker was talking about praising God. The illustration was for everyone to eat a piece of chocolate. The word savor seems to best capture the aspects of this exercise. The idea is to avoid anything like shoving the food in your mouth and swallowing. This task requires time and focus. Most people are in the habit of eating without thinking. When the pleasant taste hits your tongue you absorb it. You pause and enjoy it. Then you think of God and his love for you. You think about his kindness and how he provides for you. You thank God for this pleasure, for the ability to enjoy it.
I think that there is a reason for eating that is for the body and rightly enjoys taste as a gift. I find that when I eat like this I am enriched. My body is nourished and my attitude and perspective are too. I eat less and am satisfied more.
It might not always look like the sermon illustration. It might involve praying before meals. I think that perhaps this was what praying before meals was originally intended for when it wasn’t a trite religious act. For many perhaps it still functions this way. At the core it is thanking God for what you are eating. This will naturally take many forms.

Enchanted Food

I remember reading something that C. S. Lewis wrote about perverted sexuality. He was making an analogy to food, saying that it would be strange for us to find a culture that put a hamburger on stage and slowly uncovered it, like a strip tease. I don’t mean to dismiss the point that he was making, but I would argue that American popular culture treats food in a way very similar to this. Television commercial producers make food and the eating of food look sensual. When people actually eat food it doesn’t look like it does in ads. Advertisements also make food look ideal. A hamburger purchased at a fast food chain never looks like the ad. It is not that the chain serves substandard food. It is that the ad is overly idealized. People have bought into this idea of what food should be. That is why all of the oddly shaped produce is filtered out of grocery stores.

In my opinion, these tricks that are used to sell food do the same thing that most, if not all, advertisements do. They make the consumer associate things like happiness, fulfillment, and sensual experience with the purchase and consumption of the product. Of course this is a lie. It can’t offer these things. It may deliver a form of them, but it is always fleeting and encourages more consumption.

I don’t want to believe the lie. I don’t want eat food with the intent of receiving an existence or experience that God wants to be giving me.

Your Rod and Your Staff, They Comfort Me

Often a rod is used to beat, or a staff to harshly correct. A Staff brings up images of power or force. How strange for a psalm writer to say that a rod is comforting. I think that the first thing that comes to mind when I think the word comfort is fleece, or something soft, embracing or flexible. A rod is hard and unyielding, yet it brings comfort. Well, I think of how I have heard that when the nation of Israel was first given the law, a set of 613 laws, it was received with joy and gladness. This was the case because the law was seen as a gift of how to live rightly. Perhaps the rod is like this; the shepherds correction is a wonderful lesson on how to live rightly.

I think that a shepherd’s staff would also be used to defend the sheep against any predator that might be seeking a meal. No wonder the psalm writer called the staff a comfort.

Lord thank you for your rod and your staff they truly comfort me.