Sunday is the day of rest.
I deeply tried to write this opinion piece without using the word “rest” solely because Asbury’s overuse completely stripped any meaning from the word. There are so many competing notions about what the term encompasses that my brain now simply shuts off at any mention of it. As I sit with drool hanging from my lower lip and limiting my pupils to the 1000-mile-stare, I guess I now ironically place myself in an unconscious state of rest.
When I lived in New Jersey, Sabbath meant aimlessly walking around in the local Cumberland Mall (which regularly disappointed my friends and me so much, we coined the term “scumberland mall”) or grabbing a bite to eat at Chick-fil-A (or, at least fantasizing about eating there until we pulled into the parking lot and realized what day it was).
In Kentucky, the synonymous definition of the Sabbath day of rest is to shut everything in the vicinity down.
In efforts to force individuals to sit and watch paint dry (but honoring the Lord by doing so!), local businesses and campus organizations have annihilated many rest forms.
The library being closed? That boggles my mind. Shutting the library down will not stop students from “working” and studying. They’ll simply study somewhere less convenient for themselves.
I completely understand the need for campus rest. Still, I genuinely believe allowing the students to express their various forms of rest will help them during the overwhelming nature of the semester.
I am always at my breaking point. The gym is my form of rest, and if I can be conscious for two hours and not be ridiculously stressed or overwhelmed (even if I am moving my body), I will absolutely distinguish that as “rest.”
Stripping my being down to the bare minimum and that of the prehistoric savages by lifting heavy objects and throwing them down repeatedly is something I need available seven days a week. The very idea of the only words coursing through my disheveled and chaotic mind, which are “run faster,” “water” and “too heavy-let go,” actually moves me to tears.
There are many forms of rest. Just because there is some sort of physical activity or mental energy involved does not mean that it goes against biblical principles.
Having the library open will allow students to leisurely work ahead. For example, I am physically unable to sit around, even on Sabbath. One of my strange caveats about rest includes working on assignments at my own pace for the “rest” day (on the weekends, I enjoy going somewhere other than my dorm). To be able to calmly work ahead is, in turn, supporting rest throughout the week.
Also, Asbury is a university. I remember bringing my father on campus on a Sunday and saying, “Oh, it’s not open,” after he expressed excitement about walking through.
My father said, “It’s a university; do people not have to study on Sundays?”
I had no answer for that.
On Sundays, campus organizations such as the Luce center and the library should absolutely be open. If the problem is getting individuals to oversee the building while available, hire students to sit at the desks. There will be students more than willing to take a desk job and get paid for doing virtually nothing.
Frankly, we need to be a little more realistic here when it comes to Sabbath and what is “rest” to the individuals on campus.
