Sabbath

Since as a grad student, most of my time is mine to command, and most of that is consumed with reading and writing for school, I can command that on Sundays I read and write nothing to do with school. It's part of this whole "Sabbath rest" idea that God commands in Exodus. And since God commands it, the least I can do is obey it. (That said, I'm not convinced that Sunday is everyone's day of rest. e.g. Pastors might want to take a different day, since they work all Sunday.)

My neighborhood here in Pittsburgh includes a synagogue, which means that many practicing Jews live in my neighborhood. Their Sabbath--Friday sundown to Saturday sundown--is very visibly kept. With their tassels and yarmulkes and kids in strollers, they're out walking to and from the synagogue. Their presence on Saturdays reminds me what my day on Sunday should look like--different from all the rest of the days.

So this past Sunday I took myself on a driving tour of Pittsburgh. I decided formally to attend the Open Door on Sunday nights. And I sat around with my cat, sketching and listening to _Ender's Shadow_ on CD. Not a bad mental break from Medieval British history, Colonial Latin American history, or even writing book proposals.

On Monday, I was ready to tackle those Aztec and Celtic warriors again. Well, not literally. Both tribes fought nearly naked. And in a fight against me--they would win. And in a fight against each other... well, that would be interesting. Both the Spanish and Norman conquistadors viewed the Aztecs and Celts as savages...

Studying these two histories alongside each other is providing interesting juxtapositions. I'll post any epiphanies as they come...