Francis Gonsalves

Many years ago, thinking that a film Thank God it’s Friday! would focus on Good Friday and the life of Christ, an old devout uncle bought us tickets to see it. To my amusement and his alarm, the movie was all about youth dancing away the weekend in an American discotheque. In secularised societies, the “TGIF” call heralds weekend entertainment. But in multi-religious India, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays mean more; they enable us to rest and relish sacred time.
You might ask: Is there anything like “sacred time” or “holy days”? Isn’t everyday equally holy, or unholy, for that matter? Greek has two words to denote time: chronos and kairos. Chronos refers to routine, everyday time, while kairos is “special time” invested with sacred significance. Thus, certain days are holier than others, so to say, and religions attach special meaning to them.
While Hinduism dedicates each day in the week to particular gods, Thursday — Brihaspativar or Guruvar is usually dedicated to Vishnu and Brihaspati, the Guru of Devas and on this day, some Hindus observe a fast and visit temples. In Islam, Fridays are holy and Friday Salat Al-Jumuah prayer is regarded as especially effective for worshipping Allah.
The sabbath — referring to the seventh day of the week — is sacred in the Judeo-Christian tradition. It’s a day of rest. The Bible says: “God rested on the seventh day… and blessed it” (Genesis 2:2-3). If God rested on the sabbath, shouldn’t we also rest one day every week? The Book of Exodus enjoins people to: “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy… in it you shall do no work… for the Lord blessed the sabbath day” (20:8-11).
Like a woman skilfully weaving a beautiful mat, God wisely wove a holiday, a “holy day”, after every six days into the maddening maze of mundane life. Thus, much as one is created to work, so is one created to rest. Moreover, the sabbath is not only a day of rest, but also of refreshment. Interestingly, the Bible says that not only did God rest but “was refreshed” (Exodus 31:17). Rest leads to refreshment, a recreation of expended energies.
Besides rest and renewal, the sabbath is meant for communitarian worship. Sacrifices are offered to God as a token of gratitude (Ezekiel 46:4). The sabbath is “a delight” (Isaiah 58:13) with special events celebrated by the community — remembering what God has done, and is doing, in the world (Deuteronomy 5:15). This communitarian remembering causes the community to look backward with gratitude and to launch forward with hope.
Weekly rest is freedom from work, from tension, from competitiveness, acquisitiveness and worldly preoccupation. It’s a way of letting go of human control and letting God take charge: “In rest you shall be saved; and in trust shall be your strength” (Isaiah 30:15).
When Jesus’ disciples described all that they had accomplished, he said: “Come away by yourselves to a lonely place, and rest awhile” (Mark 6:30-31). To those who were over burdened, he said, “Come to me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Jesus often rested by spending long hours in prayer (Luke 6:12). Yet, he was often accused of subverting sabbath stipulations by healing people — something that was considered “work” and thus forbidden. Hence, he said, “The sabbath was made for man, not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27), meaning, the true good of human beings is more important than sabbath observances. Flocking to churches and temples without doing good is useless. Sundays should be used for loving service of others.
Who doesn’t love spending time with their beloved? The supreme joy of the bhakta, the believer, is to love God and rest in God’s loving presence (Deuteronomy 33:12). Thus, death, our final “resting in God”, is called “eternal rest” for we hope to be united with God forever. That’s why tombstones bear an RIP abbreviation signifying “rest in peace”. Beyond space and time, and Sundays and Fridays, all God’s children will hopefully rest in God who is love and peace, whispering, “Thanks, God!”

— Francis Gonsalves is the principal of the Vidyajyoti College of Theology, Delhi. He is involved in interfaith dialogue and peoples’ initiatives for
fostering justice, harmony and peace. He can be contacted at fragons@gmail.com