colinjcampbell

FERRY Operator Caledonian MacBrayne today (Tuesday) announced that following an extensive consultation process, it is to introduce a Sunday ferry service between Stornoway and Ullapool, starting this weekend.
The new service will initially follow the timetable of the current Saturday afternoon sailing; departing Stornoway at 1430hrs to arrive in Ullapool at 1730hrs then departing at 1815hrs arriving back in Stornoway at 2100 hrs.

CalMac had previously chosen not to operate on a Sunday out of respect for the religious beliefs of part of the local community. However a legal opinion which stated that the company's stance is more than likely to be in breach of the Equality Act 2006, has forced the company to review its position.

In addition, a steady rise in ferry traffic since the start of the year, following the introduction of the Road Equivalent Tariff pilot in October 2008, has led to complaints from islanders that they were increasingly experiencing difficulties securing space on Saturday and Monday sailings on the Stornoway/Ullapool route.

Traditionally, up until more recent decades, it was taboo to work on a Sunday on Lewis; all shops and business would be shut. You couldn't buy groceries, refuel your car or even hang out washing on the line without attracting some level of disgrace in your immediate community. Children had to be seen and heard even less, with no question of playing out doors or raising a voice. The Sabbath stillness lay across the Isles of Lewis & Harris like a sacrosanct blanket that muffled every chirrup and squeak. Over more recent times the more oppressive aspects of this tradition (such as preparing food in advance of Sunday, forbidding child play etc.) fell away as the severe orthodoxy of Highland Presbyterianism loosened slightly under the influence of a more informal and world aware Evangelical Christianity of the late 20th Century.

Nowadays a Sunday on the islands will consist of dramatically less traffic on the roads, a smattering of church goers attending churches in towns and villages, everyone enjoying a significant Sunday meal and a lazy day about the house with the occasional excursion to beach or play park in the summer particularly. You still wont see many people putting washing out and there are only a couple of establishments open for custom in the town. While the opposition to introducing Sunday ferry sailings has been spearheaded by the Island's sizeable Christian community, there are plenty of non-religious members of the island's communities who oppose the denuding of what they appreciate as a blissfully unique aspect of the island lifestyle - a single day of peace and quiet where the demands of one's job and even everyday housework can be set aside with a sense of communal permission.

It seems legal and financial conditions have provided Cal Mac with the impetus to make a decision in favour of breaching this ancient taboo despite the staunch local Council and community opposition to the plans. The fact of the matter is that there is demand for the service from a section of the community as well as prospective visitors to the island and Cal Mac are doing what businesses do. 

I am with those, Christian and not, who are sad to see this uniquely Hebridean aspect of the island lifestyle possibly coming to an end forever. I believe some of those who are chafing under the inconveniences of a day of time-out will look back in a few years with more appreciation for the Lewis Sabbath in hindsight. That being said, I do not have terribly great sympathy for the overbearing religious attitudes and unedifying and very public petulance that has been too often displayed by the church representatives opposing this change. They seem to have forgotten that the Sabbath never saved anyone, and ramming what is a wholly Christian observance down the throats of an increasingly secular community doesn't bring either side closer to God. 

As far as I understand things we have to earn and maintain the right to a community-held Christian Sunday. If as a body of believers we aren't living in such a way that we are the defining influence on our communities then we shouldn't be surprised that those communities are defined by other forces. We do not have an automatic right to live in an environment conducive to our Christian faith. Perhaps this beacon of devout external religious observance has become too much of a crutch for a Christianity too used to expressing itself through the nouns of intellectualisation, regulation and ritual and not often enough through the verbs of living, loving and emanating the Christ-filled life. God (the I Am) is a verb: He is continually being Himself and living in the attributes of that Person. If we are to be imitators of God as dear children (Eph 5:1) should we not also be more often busying ourselves with living verbs than dead nouns?

If church attendance is dwindling and the knowledge of Gospel truth is diluting day by day, don't try and prop up the corpse that is only now a mere human custom or relic of tradition in the hope that somehow preserving the letter of the law will cause the spirit of the law to return. "The letter kills but the Spirit gives life" (2 Cor 3:6); the letter of the law never gives life. If the spirit of observance has departed do not busy yourself touching up the crumbling shell in pathetic denial. Don't blame secularism, socio-economic forces, (or worse) Providence - do yourself, your religion, your community, your God a favour and "Take heed to yourself, and to the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this you shall both save yourself, and them that hear you." (1 Tim 4:16). I would humbly implore my fellow Christians to gather together your dross, prepare the living sacrifice and kindle again in our hearts (and thereby in our community) the Flame from which all and only that which is of lasting worth proceeds - a life washed daily by the blood of Jesus Christ, being dynamically empowered with His Holy Spirit and living in complete surrender to the will of our Heavenly Father.

Perhaps if we try this, coming to worship God will be a deeply attractive prospect EVERY day of the week irrespective of how many shops are open.