(Re)Creating the Sabbath

I suppose it comes from being borderline GenX (not rule oriented) and millennial generation, but growing up in the Adventist church I was familiar, but never comfortable, with the "Sabbath laws." I know all the dos and don'ts regarding the hours between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday.

As I grew up and gained greater understanding of the gospels I couldn't help but make a comparison between the way the Pharisees kept the Sabbath and the way Adventists did (do?). Christ's words once again ring true: "The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27, NLT). How is it at all helpful to spend what is supposed to be a day of rest, focused on a list of rules?

As a teenager I found it difficult to reconcile my own beliefs with the rules that the church tried to impose on me, leading me to spend many Sabbaths in college as just another day, if I didn't sleep it away. It hasn't been until the last few years that I've managed to find a balance between the two extremes.

While reading "Patriarchs and Prophets" this week, I came across an interesting section in chapter two:

"After resting upon the seventh day, God sanctified it, or set it apart, as a day of rest for man. Following the example of the Creator, man was to rest upon this sacred day, that as he should look upon the heavens and the earth, he might reflect upon God's great work of creation; and that as he should behold the evidences of God's wisdom and goodness, his heart might be filled with love and reverence for his maker. (pg. 47) ...There was nothing in it shadowy or of restricted application to any people. God saw that a Sabbath was essential for man, even in Paradise. He needed to lay aside his own interests and pursuits for one day of the seven, that he might more fully comprehend the works of God and meditate upon his power and goodness. He needed a Sabbath to remind him more vividly of God and to awaken gratitude because all that he enjoyed and possessed came from the beneficent hand of the Creator." (pg. 48)

Now I may be wrong, but it seems to me that God intended the Sabbath to be a weekly reminder of Him as our Creator and Sustainer and that - especially after the fall - nature is as close as we can come to His presence. Along those lines, having a list of things we can/can't do does nothing more than hinder our connection to God.

Pardon my inner teacher, but I'm reminded of the education psychology theory of multiple intelligences, which claims that we all learn differently. Just as some students learn better through music or physical activity, so too do we meet God in different ways.

If we could just accept that God communicates individually and that no two people are alike in their spirituality.