Page:On the Desert - Recent Events in Egypt.djvu/92

 

A SABBATH IN THE WILDERNESS.

No matter where a man may be — at home or abroad, in the city or in the wilderness — the week comes to an end, and brings the day of rest — blessed day — never more welcome than on the desert. Some travellers ignore it, claiming that the strict rules of Sabbath observance which obtain in Christian communities at home, have no place in the wilderness, where no man is. A caravan on the desert is like a ship at sea, which must keep on her voyage. Travellers are exposed to greater dangers here than on the ocean. Not only may they be overtaken by storms; they may be attacked by robbers, who would strip them of everything, and leave them to perish by exposure or by famine; so that it may be a matter of necessity and mercy to press on till the point of danger is passed. I presume not to judge those who so reason and so act. "I speak not of commandment," but of privilege; and only this I say, that they lose an experience which comes but rarely in a lifetime, and the loss of which they will always regret. Nowhere is the day more needed for the physical rest which it brings. A week on the desert is a great trial of strength and endurance, and one needs more time to recover from it than the few hours of night. Rest is needed for man and beast. As soon as we entered this oasis, even the camels seemed to have an instinct that a time of rest had come. Their Sabbath began, according to the Hebrew custom, with Saturday evening. No sooner were they