Is Sunday still the Lord's Day?

I must be getting old because I can remember when folks didn't do a whole lot on Sunday. In ancient times (the 1960's) there was a time or maybe two when I ran down the church steps and then down the sidewalk with my father on Sunday to buy the newspaper before the store closed. And on Saturday nights, it wasn't uncommon to fill up your tank for the day ahead. Buying gas on a Sunday morning in prehistoric Danbury, Connecticut could be an iffy proposition. It only cost $3.00 to fill up a VW Beetle, but that is a topic for another post.

With the trend towards all-week-long sports and shopping being what it is, I was truly surprised and heartened to see the clergy of another one of my former dwellingplaces, Watertown, Conn. stand together against Sunday sports.

Citing quality family time that has dwindled over the years, the Watertown-Oakville Ecumenical Council and Watertown-Oakville Clergy Association issued a joint statement Thursday saying residents should "pause and consider" the ramifications of extending sports activities into the Sunday morning hours that previously offered no competition to church services or other family endeavors.

The Parks and Recreation Commission voted March 16 not to prohibit the issuance of field permits by the recreation department any time the parks are legally open, including Sundays. A policy of not handing out permits for Sunday morning games at sites such as Veterans Memorial Park and Deland Field had been adhered to by the department for years....

"Is holding on to four or five hours of a Sunday morning such a bad thing?" the two group's statement asked. "Do we really need to offer up to the gods of chaos any more of our precious time?"

Bravo, Watertown clergy. Read the rest here.

Tags: Connecticut, Christianity