The leader of the synagogue, indignant because Jesus had cured on the sabbath, kept saying to the crowd, “There are six days on which work ought to be done; come on those days and be cured, and not on the sabbath day.” But the Lord answered him and said, “You hypocrites! Does not each of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his donkey from the manger, and lead it away to give it water? And ought not this woman, a daughter of Abraham whom Satan bound for eighteen long years, be set free from this bondage on the sabbath day?” Luke13:14-16

Sabbath is a glimpse into eternity. I read this somewhere many years ago. I think it was Abraham Herschel. The Jewish people considered this sacred day as their connection to eternity. On this sacred day, all the boundaries of earthly time diminish and eternity unites the past, present and future generations of the Jewish faith. The Sabbath is the symbol of their eternal vocation as God’s children. Consequently, a religious Jewish person orientates his life around this day. The days of the week serve as a mere countdown to the Sabbath.

As Christians, we find this hard to understand. We don’t have the kind of religious commitment that sets aside a period of time to reflect on our vocation. We attend church on Sundays for two hours at best. Then we go on with “life”. This is a poor imitation of Sabbath. Perhaps, this makes it difficult for us to understand the intensity of the debate between Jesus and the Pharisees on this subject. We don’t understand why the Pharisees were scandalized by Jesus’ action. We cannot truly appreciate the disappointment of Jesus to see how the Sabbath was reduced to mere dry religious rituals. The Sabbath is essentially about time and how we use our time to take a peek into eternity.

Unfortunately, we, Christians, are very secular when it comes to time. We understand that time is precious but not for spiritual reasons. Our time is a means to an end. We feel like we need to occupy our time with things and sometimes we are indiscriminate with the things we employ to occupy them. We consider certain things as a waste of time when in actuality they are God given moments for us to savor the reality of eternity.

This last Sunday, we went to church thinking about the Sabbath. It wasn’t because of the service nor the Eucharist but because our good friend, São, passed away earlier that morning. He is not stranger to my writings. I wrote about him once. I called him a window to eternity. On my journey to church on Sunday, he continued to serve as window into eternity for me.

One of our last encounters with São happened by chance. We ran into him on our way home from the streets with the children. He told us that he walked down the same street everyday to go home from his new job. It was strange that this was the first we bumped into each other. I may not look like the type but I usually have a strict schedule on how I spend my evenings. It’s my time to replenish myself spiritually. However, on this particular day, São took priority. He had terminal cancer and he was undergoing experimental clinical treatments. They were doing wonders. He looked his healthiest. He was full of life and joy. We went out for coffee and talked until the cafe closed. In the same week, São came by our apartment one evening. Once again, he took priority. We talked about everything; his cancer, his healthy choices, his young 3 year old son, and, most importantly, how he sensed God’s presence in the most unexpected places. He ended up going home close to midnight. I had many things planned for the evening but they seemed irrelevant compared to our talk with São. He gave us an opportunity to take a walk into eternity. It replenished our souls. Besides, this was the last time we saw him alive.

Everyday after these two encounters, we would walk down the same street where we bumped into him. I was always on the lookout for São, hoping that we would run into him. Unfortunately, it never happened again and never will. Later I discovered that soon after his visit with us, he caught an infection and it aggravated his cancer. He was in intensive care since then. Now I walk down the same street without any hope of meeting him. Our time with São in this existence has ended. I know that there is the resurrection but we are here now. We miss him in our present reality. Life just seems a little more melancholic with his death.

To see São lying still in the coffin was extremely difficult especially when he was such a joyous person who filled the room with his laughter. I touched his cold hands and closed my eyes. I pictured all the eternal moments we shared together in my mind. It made me weep but São deserved my tears. In our last conversation in our home, he said that his cancer has made him more sensitive to God’s presence. He talked about walking in a soccer field and sensing God’s presence in an inexplicable manner. He talked about a conversation with a receptionist at hospital and he sensed God speaking to him through her life experience. We talked about classical literature which was our common passion. He talked about living many lives through the writings of the great authors. He knew that his life would be short and he transformed the limited time he had into the Sabbath.

In Brazil, everything happens within 24 hours. The passing, the wake and the funeral happened on the same day. Then on Monday, we went to the streets and it started out as a cold cloudy day. All of the sudden, about 3 o’clock in the afternoon, the traditional time of Jesus’ death, the sky became as dark as night. No one understood what was going on. Some people went to take pictures but everyone, including ourselves, were little dazed and confused. It seemed like something ominous was in the air. Later we found out that it was due the deliberate forest fires in the Amazons and other parts of Brazil that had brought the ashes to the city. The following day, there was an unrelated and unnecessary riot where we meet the children. We had to take shelter in the Cathedral and we were locked in for half hour before we were allowed to leave. We came home obviously unsettled. We realized that we take the time that we have for granted. In reality, it never belonged to us. São knew this for a fact and he was zealous in seeking to keep the Sabbath. He opened his life up to relationships. He was never a saint. He was a simple young man who enjoyed life. He did not have much but he gave his time. He left us with memories of time we spent together.

We went back to the streets the following day. Nothing changed. Mary took the bus to the streets and she witnessed a scene of violence. I decided to walk to the place where we meet the children and saw the aftermath of a robbery. All these things reminded us that nothing is stable or certain therefore we need to stop running around and trying to fill up our time with activities. We need to allow God to transform our limited time into the Sabbath. Jesus showed the Pharisees how to truly keep the Sabbath. Unfortunately, they preferred to take the easy route and keep it as a merely religious event. São showed us that the Sabbath is about people. Having a glimpse of Eternity is about building relationships that reveal the face of God to us. This is the only thing that is real. We sat and waited for God to bring eternal moments to us. Then Wallace came the steps and gave us a big hug. He was our window to take a glimpse into eternity on this day. Tomorrow it might someone else, we never know but we need to make the time for God to give us the gift of Sabbath.