A colleague once commented about the Ten Commandments, “If people can’t observe the Sabbath, we haven’t got a chance at stopping murder, adultery, stealing, and lying.” I don’t fully share that perspective, but I do confess that I have struggled with Sabbath for most of my life. And I worked as a pastor for my entire career. Obviously, if the only measure of Sabbath-keeping is attending worship, I’ve got a pretty good track record in that department. Even though I am now retired, I don’t often miss worship. The commandment, however, doesn’t define Sabbath in terms of church attendance. “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work . . .” (Exodus 20:8-10a)

Pastors work on Sundays. Leading worship is work. For most of my career, I observed Monday as a day of rest and did not go into the office unless there was an emergency. There were times when circumstances required me to work on my day off, but that happens to many workers. And like most people I know, I took care of home chores and family obligations on my day off. As a pastor, I had the luxury of a flexible schedule. I took time during a workday for family obligations or personal needs. I didn’t have to cram all of my medical and dental appointments onto my day off. Furthermore, I truly enjoyed the work I did, so it was hard for me to see working as a restriction. I wanted to do the work for which I was paid.

Now that I am retired, it is even more challenging to know what it means to keep the Sabbath. I rest every day as much as I want. I attend worship, but that does not consume an entire day. I occasionally lead worship, which involves more hours of preparation than when I was serving as a pastor and filling the pulpit every week. Still, it is hard for me to make the distinction between work and rest. Since I no longer define work by receiving a paycheck and no longer designate a single day as my day off, I’m not sure how best to observe the Sabbath.

This journal is an example. I write every day. I don’t take a day off from writing. I developed this discipline as a spiritual practice, but also to teach myself to write. I started publishing my journal online in 2007, and I have not missed a single day since then. I don’t see it as a burden. I don’t feel it as an obligation. It is something that I enjoy. I have wondered how much longer I will keep it up. I do have plans to end the daily publication on my website soon when I unveil a new one, but I intend to keep writing every day. I have already started publishing my writing in a different format on Substack.

So what does it mean for me to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy? I justify my writing with my belief that writing can be a sacred activity. I write prayers every week. There are many occasions when I pray spontaneously. I am often called upon to offer a public prayer, and I try never to refuse a request to pray. But I also plan prayers, write them out word for word. Precise language is essential, and writing allows me to use language carefully.

As a working pastor, I wrote out weddings and funerals word for word before I led those services. I knew that they were once-in-a-lifetime events for those participating, and I wanted to be careful not to misspeak. Although I learned to preach without notes, it was a discipline that took me years to develop, and every sermon requires plenty of preparation work.

Not long ago, I was talking with a friend who had a career as a teacher and school administrator. He told me of a time shortly after he had been hired as superintendent of a school in a very conservative community. He was mowing his lawn on a Sunday afternoon after having attended worship in the morning. A member of the school board advised him that he should not do such a thing. Mowing the lawn was work, and he should not work on the Sabbath. It wasn’t a joke. The school board member was serious. In that member’s church, which was the largest in the town, there were specific rules establishing what could and what could not be done on Sundays.

With my friend, I agree that sabbath keeping is not about following rules. And it is not about imposing rules on someone else. Keeping a day holy is much deeper than following a set of rules. I would even observe that lawn care and yard work could be seen as a holy activity. Caring for creation is one of the first commandments God gave to humans. Spending time outdoors has always been meaningful for me. There is holiness in just being outdoors.

I do not live in regret. The balance of work and rest that I discovered during my working years seems to me to have been faithful. I did take time for my family. I did take time for prayer and study. And I developed habits that continue now that I am retired. Still, I don’t think that I could single out one day of the week and say that any particular day is more Sabbath than any other. I find time for rest every day. I experience holiness every day. And just because I am no longer paid, I still work. Furthermore, I have discovered that some things that I used to call work aren’t really work. I once thought of visiting in a care center as work. Now I see it as an expression of friendship.

I’ve learned quite a bit in my life so far, but I’m not sure I’ve got the third commandment down yet.