Flirting with the Sabbath.

A few weeks ago I took each of my daughters on a "Daddy-Daughter Date Night." I gave them each the chance to pick the destination. They both picked Chuck-e-Cheese. On Saturday night I went to Chuck-e-Cheese with my five year old McRae. On Sunday night, my seven year old L.E.

By the second night within the lair of Mr. Cheese, I started to notice something. Chuck-e-Cheese is like a casino for kids.

Loud, flashy games? Check.

Difficult to get to an exit? Check.

No clocks anywhere? Check.

Own form of money? (Tokens instead of chips.) Check.

Pandemonium when someone hits the jackpot on a game? Check.

Mediocre food? Check.

Pit boss?

OK, this one might not work, but try to cheat at Skee-ball and see if they guy wearing the mouse costume doesn't hustle you out a back exit.

Though I loved Chuck-e-Cheese as a kid, my enjoyment of it as an adult has waned. On the second night we were headed there, I started to think of ways I could get out of it. Not the date, but ways I could change the destination. Bribe L.E.? No. Find an alternative location like a bounce house with a warehouse full of inflatables? Nah. Tell her it was closed like we used to say about the ice cream shop when we didn't want to go? Nope.

I went through all my options, finally settling on a thought I'm not proud of. Here's what went through my head:

"Should I even be at Chuck-e-Cheese on the Sabbath?"

That's a silly thing to think, but it made me realize that I've got a history of "flirting with the Sabbath." Here are a few reasons it happens:

1. A pastor preaches a convicting message about our need to celebrate the Sabbath.

Anytime someone does the "celebrate the Sabbath" sermon, I sit in the pew thinking, "Yes! I am going to do that." And that lasts for about two weeks.

2. I get to the Ten Commandments during a read through the Bible study.

Celebrating the Sabbath isn't presented as a casual idea in the Bible. It's one of the Ten Commandments. I usually get convicted about that and decide to take a Sabbath. And that lasts for about two weeks.

3. I get overwhelmed with digital media.

Occasionally I get exhausted by keeping up with blogs, tweets, linked-in, Gmail, Netflix, Facebook, outlook, RSS, my iPhone, my laptop, etc. And so I morph a digital fast into taking a Sabbath. And that lasts for about two weeks.

4. I read a Henri Nouwen book and want to be quiet.

Henri Nouwen wrote some amazing stuff about how loud and busy our culture has become. In the 1980s before everything in point 3 existed. Whenever I bump into Nouwen and read one of my favorite books, The Way of the Heart, I decide to do a Sabbath. And that lasts for about two weeks.

I feel like there's a pattern developing here. And I'm not saying it's the right way. I'd love to more consistently have the Sabbath be part of my life.

Have you ever flirted with the Sabbath? I'd love to hear your ideas on it.

Unless that idea is "The Sabbath is not really a Sunday." I know. Getting berated about that always makes me not want to celebrate the Sabbath. And that lasts for about fifty weeks.