friday night
it’s friday night and another week is done… with only Sabbath left, of course. i’m looking forward to tomorrow’s sermon. alan‘s gonna be speaking at the grove so i know it’ll be good…
yesterday, i found out one of my students is jewish, and i told him how my family used to light the menorah every friday night. no, not the hanukkah menorah, but the 7-candle weekly menorah.
later that night, i started reminiscing… how we’d go home earlier than most days, and spend the time cleaning the house and preparing for the Sabbath. it was such a big deal growing up. i’d have to clean my room, clean the living room, and have my clothes all picked out and ready to go - i’d even have to go to the garage and polish my shoes for church! my mom would have potato corn chowder on the stove and it would tempt me.... and then, when the sun went down, even if we weren’t done cleaning (and boy, would we get in trouble for that!) we’d stop, and have family worship to bring in the Sabbath. even our pets would participate in worship! bubbles -always- sang along with any hymn we’d sing =) then we’d get to eat the good food =) and we’d sit around the dinner table, light the menorah, recite the fourth commandment, and then bless the food.
as stressful as the clean-the-entire-house-before-the-sun-goes-down was, i look back on that time with fond memories. as i grew up, we got more involved in church and school, and i’d have vespers to attend (or even be in charge of) and we were home less often on friday nights. we would still have dinners like that every once in the while, but they weren’t the same… and especially now, as i live on my own, i find that i miss that. Sabbath used to be a celebration, something we’d fervently prepare for… and now, it’s almost just like any other day in the week =/ it’s too bad… i really enjoyed those times. i guess it’s one of those things i wonder if i’ll do for my children, y’know, having our family have our special nights together. i really hope so.
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