The Shepherd, June 2009
PRACTICAL TIP
BEWARE of work! The twentieth century, which would better be called the Ugly Century for many reasons, saw the ascendency of two spiritually destructive ideas: communism and capitalism. In recent years we have apparently seen the collapse of the first as a workable political ideology, and the innate weaknesses of the other are being exposed at this very time. However, what we often forget is that both shared one, single purpose: the enslavement of people. And furthermore, and more worrying to us, is that we still live with the consequences of those discredited systems. Even secular pundits are now warning against the danger of over-working, one of the enslavements of capitalism. Spiritually we should also be on our guard. A old proverbs wisely tells us, “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy!” We might well adapt it to our present church situation and say, “All work and no pray makes Jack a spiritually dulled boy.” Pressures from the way society is tend to force us to work ever longer hours, ever harder. This in time breaks us. Even in the Old Testament, the Chosen People were given the commandment to set aside one day in the week, the Sabbath, for the Lord. Though we now do not keep the Sabbath, Saturday, so strictly, we should observe the Lord’s Day, Sunday. It is not a day when we should go to church only if our work-schedule permits; it is the day when our religious observance takes priority. We should also conscientiously set aside time each day for prayer, for spiritual work; we should observe the feasts. More and more often people make excuse that they cannot keep various church observances because of pressure of work. They are mistaken on two fronts. First they seem to think that it is the Church or the clergy who are somehow offended or hurt by this. In fact, without realizing it, they are self-harming. Secondly, the very fact that they give in to such pressures is not an excuse, as they think, but a sin in itself. Some jobs, particularly those in the caring professions, of course, do require us to work when otherwise we should not, but others do not and we should not let them. If, of necessity, we have on occasion to work at a time which should be dedicated to the Lord, then find some other time when you can spiritually replenish. If, of necessity (not of a thinly veiled choice), you have to work, for instance, on a Sunday, then come to church on another day in the week, and join in the Divine worship then. If, on occasion, you really cannot get to church, then the instruction outlined in the second paragraph of Fr Shchukin’s article above will help you to keep the day holy, even when confined to your home.
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