The Bible’s Fourth Commandment

Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days thou shalt labor and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the lord thy god. In it thou shalt do no work: thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger who is within thy gates. For in six days the lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

I went into a hotel room with a girlfriend. I told her I was very sorry, but I had a little bit of writing that I had to do before I could take her out to dinner. I said it would take about an hour.

I said, “You can turn on the TV; my iPod has music on it and there are headphones right there. If you want to go out, my car keys are right there and there’s a Starbucks in the lobby. I have a couple books there if you want to read and there’s a magazine or two . . .”

She said, “I’m fine, I’ll just sit here.”

“What are you going to do?” I asked.

“I’ll sit and think.”

She’s still one of my best friends and an inspiration.

ONE ATHEIST’S FOURTH SUGGESTION

Put aside some time to rest and think. (If you’re religious, that might be the Sabbath; if you’re a Vegas magician,
that’ll be the day with the lowest grosses.)