Bob Schwartz

Those of us who do not strictly observe the Sabbath, or those whose beliefs don’t come close to even acknowledging it, can still accept its gift.

It comes around like clockwork, or actually calendarwork, like it or observe it or believe it or not. It is a stop on a weekly journey, sort of a vacation, literally. We vacate the week, stuffed as it is with whatever has been foist upon us by others or by ourselves.

It is not that we are different on this special day, no more than we are different on any of the holidays which we have just celebrated. Instead, on those holidays and on this weekly holiday, we are invited to be our best selves. The things of our weekly world don’t always bring out the best in us. The day is a reminder not that we can be better but that we are better, if we give ourselves the chance.

And, as we sense the joy it can bring, maybe our Sabbath selves show up every day.