Blue laws —aka Sunday laws— once banned worldly distractions such as manufacturing, shopping and non-essential services on Sunday. In the USA, this was to be a day for the observance of worship or just a well-deserved day of rest after a long, stressful week.
Thanks to technology and the demise of the Industrial Park mindset, these laws have been repealed or just ignored. Today however, there is a genuine cultural need for some sort of respite from the 24/7 on-line awareness nightmare we have created.
We now realize that there was hidden value in having a protocol for weekly R&R whether it was faith-driven or health-driven. In the past, everyone agreed with the need for a weekly sabbatical, even though some disagreed on the day of the week that sabbatical should occur. Now we find it hard to agree on the protocol for any kind of sabbatical that does not accommodate the 24/7 awareness mentality of the Global Village.
Perhaps we need to abandon our concept of weekly sabbaticals and think in terms of an "as-needed" mental sabbatical. The protocol for this might be taking a 15-minute mental break from all worldly concerns to meditate and restore our spirit. This might include complete disconnection from all electronic devices such as cell phones, tablets, TV, radio--anything that consumes electrical energy to function.
It will be awkward at first--just as the Blue Laws may have felt awkward back in the early 20th century. But in time we will feel no shame posting our "Back On-line in 15 Minutes--Taking Mental Sabbatical" message to all our conferrers. They will understand because they are now following the same protocol.
