Sabbath 10: hurtling toward the eschaton

Sabbath 10: links to Tripp's post, Meeegan's post

This week's chapter was fabulous. I'd post the whole thing here, except for the whole blatant copyright violation thing. I'm tempted to tell you to buy the book for this chapter alone. I can't copy it, but I can paraphrase.

Scripture talks about, and some of it leans toward, the eschaton (the end of all things). Our modern, western assimilation of the concept, Muller says, is 'progress.' We live in a culture that says that things will be better next year, next decade, than they are today. We work frantically for a future in which we can rest, say that we have arrived.

The trap is that there's always more money, or a bigger house, or a faster car, or...insert your stereotypical object of gratification. But we still participate to a certain extent, even if we see the trap.

Now, here's the important move: if the future is the desirable thing, then the present automatically becomes undesirable, or at least less desirable. We have to work, hard, right now, harder, faster, now now now, and we can't stop to rest, because we haven't reached the promised land yet.

Oh boy, he's hit this generation right on the head.


On to the suggested sabbath exercise. When I first read the chapter on Sunday, I actually laughed out loud. The first reason was that this week's exercise is simple: go outside. Well, I just did that. The other reason to laugh out loud is that this week in San Antonio has been between 25 and 33 degrees with freezing rain. The schools were closed for "ice days." My yard is a lake of not-quite-ice-cold slush. It's a good week to be glad we're members of the local gym.

We did spend some time outside, mostly for the benefit of the well-bundled urchling who had never tried to walk up an icy driveway before (or slid down same), or broken icicles off the trees to eat. But nothing particularly contemplative of the beauty of nature.

In other words, ain't gonna happen. I'm giving myself a bye on the exercise.