Sabbath

A little known holiday story from our time away in December.

Jeanine and I had booked into one of those Air B n B homes at Buninyong. We find the house OK and thanks to a lovely photo we find the keys exactly where they are  supposed to be. We go in, plug in our tired phones, drop the bags, walk through the house, go to the loo, all the really important stuff.

There is a very polite sign asking us to take off our shoes when inside. We cheerfully oblige. The house is impeccably clean and lovely. We leave the keys carefully in the fruit bowl on the kitchen bench. Gees we’re good!

We go outside to explore the large back yard and the grass tickles our naked feet. When we come back to the door we realise that we have locked ourselves out.

Then I remember that my Ipad is in the suitcase in the boot so I manage to extract it from amongst the laundry and other unmentionables. But of course there is no wifi to connect to.

Our phones are inside and so we have no way of contacting our host.

So I go next door. The driveway is blisteringly hot on the soles of my feet. A very kindly gentleman phones our host for us. Our host is not answering but we do leave a message.

I also have the car keys and go down into the township of Buninyong and ask at a cafe if I could ‘borrow’ some of their wifi. In the nicest possible way they explain they have no wifi. Undaunted, I go across to the chemist. They eye my bare feet  suspiciously as I pour out my sorry little story. The shop assistant has genuine compassion… I think, but does not know the password. She suggests the supermarket. I take my turn in the 12 items or less aisle and repeat my tragic tale. She doesn’t know the password either, but if I went to De Soza park, there is free wifi there. So off I go and it is true! I send a message to my host and then return back to the house to find my ever patient Jeanine waiting. Half an hour goes by and the neighbour comes over talking to our host on the phone. Our host is giving directions to the neighbour as to where the spare set of keys is hidden. At last! We are sure to get in now. But the keys are not where they are supposed to be. I speak to our host and he explains that he is down at the beach. By now I am doing a little jig and my GP would be grumpy with my blood pressure.

However, our host assures me that his local family have keys and that we will not sleep on the streets. I promise to log on again at 4:00pm to see what the score is. At 4pm there is no message but at 4:05pm there is a note to say that our host’s sister is bringing some keys. So 2 and half hours after arriving we are let in. We apologise profusely and are sorely embarrassed.

So what did we do for two and half hours? Well we played a nice game on my iPad and … umm …well we did nothing.. Nothing at all. It is true that this nothingness was enforced upon us, but in the end it was kinda nice for a couple of reasons

First it gave me an insight into those who might seem disreputable but actually have heaps of other stuff going on in their lives. I know nothing about who they are, where they’ve come from or why they might be dressed in scootchy holiday clothing with nothing on their feet.

But this enforced chunk of ’do nothing’ worked its own magic. Surely that is what one is supposed to be doing on holiday or holy days.

Remember where we started?

Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God commanded you.

That’s only the first verse. This commandment gets far more editorial space than any of the other commandments. Here’s the rest of it.

For six days you shall labour and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, or your son or your daughter, or your male or female slave, or your ox or your donkey, or any of your livestock, or the resident alien in your towns, so that your male and female slave may rest as well as you. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God commanded you to keep the sabbath day.

The wisdom of this very ancient commandment, also rather friendly advice, is indisputable. You are a far better person to everyone around you, to yourself and to God, when you plot and plan to have some space where you simply do nothing. It doesn’t work  as well when you lock yourself out of your accommodation  and it’s dropped upon you from a great height.