THE SABBATH REST by Samuel Hirszenberg (1866-1908)
BUCKING THE TREND
BUCKING THE TREND
DES KELLY who has famously been rolling out the carpet at his flooring and furniture stores in Dublin for over 30 years has decided to end the practise of Sunday opening at his thirteen premises. Mr Kelly says that he is taking this radical step because he believes its what God wants him to do, “As I came to know Gods commandments better, I realised I was wrong to be opening on Sunday” After consultation with his employees Mr Kelly says that 99% of them were pleased with the Sunday closure which bucks the trend as several retail outlets are now open 24 hours, 7 days a week. Mr Kelly a devout Catholic has notices and leaflets available in the stores displaying a drawing of a church and the slogan, “Our Door Closes on Sundays Because His Door Opens.” They explain, “We believe Sunday is the one day that should be put aside for more important things, like family and giving thanks.” And they add, “there is a place where the doors are always open, and that’s why it’s easy to get back in...to Sundays.”
In Britain for many years a group called Keep Sunday Special have been campaigning against Sunday shop opening, with little success. In this country the larger outlets like Dunnes Stores and Tesco now appear to never close. Sunday is becoming just as traffic-snagged as any other day and of course church attendance has steadily declined. Maybe Des Kelly will start a reversal of the trend and remind people that there are higher laws than those of supply and demand and more noble aims in life than making money. One of the commandments enshrined in the Covenant with Moses is that God has blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy and we were to rest on that day and remember our Creator. This Sabbath rest was never more needed in our consumer-driven society where so many stresses and strains seem attendant to our busy lives and frantic schedules. Jesus invitation seems wholly appropriate, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."(Matthew11:27-29) Its probably long overdue for us to return to Gods precepts in every area of life, and to hear the Word of the Lord afresh, as He exhorted the children of Israel of old, " There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a Sabbath to the LORD." (Leviticus 23:2-4) Now of course Sunday is not the seventh day, Saturday is…but that’s another days work entirely !
Gerard O'Shea
3 comments:
Just to clarify, in 1987 the Keep Sunday Special campaign successfully defeated Margaret Thatcher to prevent the shops opening on Sundays. The Act eventually returned to parliament in 1994, and although time Keep Sunday Special didn't manage to win this vote, we did achieve a compromise position, that large shops in England & Wales would be limited to 6 hours opening on Sunday. In early 2006 the British government launched an enquiry into Sunday shopping with a view to full y deregulating Sunday shopping (24/7 opening). Keep Sunday Special joined forces with a number of other groups and successfuly managed to get the government to withdraw this proposal in July 2006. There is lots more on our website!
Thanks Tim,
for setting the record straight. Good to see that your lobbying over the years has yielded such positive results,I will be happy to blog your reply to encourage pople to check out your website.
Gerry
I think the decision taken by Des Kelly is very positive and long over due. I was happy to add a little coverage it on our weblog. Credo http://www.catholic-perspective.blogspot.com
I hope others shops can keep the doors shut on Sundays and that people can win back Sunday
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