Butterworth Breaks the Sabbath

"Metamorality" was formerly published under the title, "How to Break the Ten Commandments," a more attention-getting title in my view. Eric Butterworth is known for his plays on words and for his catchy book titles. In renaming the book "Metamorality," Eric suggests he will go beyond the traditional, moralistic views of the Ten Commandments to metaphysical interpretations of them -- in a way 'breaking' them.

The Fourth Commandment asks us to keep the Sabbath day holy by not working on it. For orthodox Jews, this means preparing the Saturday meal on Friday before sundown, and not driving, turning on lights or talking on the phone from Friday evening through Saturday evening. (This must be very inconvenient!) Eric asks us to consider which day of the week is truly the Sabbath -- is it Saturday as Jews and Seventh Day Adventists would claim, or is it Sunday? This is a perfect segue to discuss the true or 'meta' meaning of the Sabbath.

First, though, I wish to comment on Eric's theology. He says that, "the commandments were created by Moses as important guidelines for primitive people" ("Metamorality" 49). So Eric adheres to the traditionalist view that Moses wrote the Torah. I wonder if he does this for those folks reading his book who are less liberal in their theology. Or perhaps Eric was unfamiliar with modern Bible scholarship and archeology? I noticed that Eric used more Hebrew, Aramaic and other etymological references in this book than in previous books. Granted, he was talking about the Hebrew Bible so the Hebrew references were logical; but he seemed to use them to enhance his writing, perhaps to make it appear more 'scholarly'?

Back to Eric's meaning of the Sabbath. He calls the Sabbath observation "important as a metronome of balance" (Ibid. 50). He suggests it provides balance to the hectic American way of life. He says that the true Sabbath does not involve just attending Sunday services, but a change in a way of life. It is the "'pause that refreshes'" (Ibid. 51). I really like the description of the businessman who carves prayer time every morning at 10. This prayer time is what our "Daily Word" team is doing for Unity Institute departments to help them to spiritually connect with the inner presence of God and with each other before they delve into their work day. A friend of mine at the law firm where I worked for many years, knowing I am of Turkish ancestry once laughingly remarked that the attorneys should bow and pray seven times a day, as the Muslims do. At the time I thought it would vastly improve the atmosphere of the firm, which can get a bit adversarial at times!

So, again, back to the Sabbath as Eric defines it, this calls for a change in our way of life. If we recognize the Sabbath in each of our days, we are, essentially, praying. Eric says, "To keep the Sabbath holy means to do all that you do in the awareness if inner power, and thus to have frequent silent parentheses to remember our oneness with the divine flow" (Ibid. 54). Eric coins a word to describe this, "creative resting" (Ibid.). He also says it is okay to fall asleep while meditating (thank heavens I no longer need feel guilty about this!), as it simply means we needed the sleep. But when we awaken, we should resume creative resting. Essentially, this chapter is about "breaking the traditional shell" of the meaning of the Sabbath as adhering to forced inactivity or attendance at Sunday services, and, instead, "get in tune with life's universal rhythm through regular periods of creative resting" (Ibid. 55-56). He also reminds us that practicing the presence of God calls for commitment and daily practice (Ibid. 56).

I agree with Eric's metaphysical interpretation of the Sabbath as a practice of the presence of God anytime of the week, and so does Jesus. I have just been reading the Bible story of the 'Healing at the Pool of Bethesda' in which Jesus tells a man to pick up his bed (i.e., tells the man to work), and walk, on the Sabbath. Never mind that Jesus just healed a man who had been lame for at least 38 years, the Jews in the temple criticize him for inciting a man to break the Sabbath. To this, Jesus responds that his Father works on the Sabbath and so does He (John 5:1-18 NAS). It is not Jesus but God working in and through the man that creates the healing -- on the Sabbath or on any other day. I rather wish Eric had used this story in his chapter; but Eric is right about one thing: Jesus was a "rebel"! (Ibid. 57)