No. 942 A CURE FOR THE SUNDAY BLUES!

No. 942

Jim Davidson -- NEWSPAPER COLUMN

A CURE FOR THE SUNDAY BLUES!

When I am talking with people and the conversation turns to church or religion, I usually say, “I am a sinner who has been saved by God’s amazing grace.” I am a Christian and I am not ashamed of it. This was important for me to get out of the way here in the beginning because of what I want to share with you in this column.
Several weeks ago I was watching a television talk show and a topic came up that I had never thought about before -- how to cure the Sunday blues. Based on what I heard that day, apparently a lot of people are “blue” on Sunday, and by this I think they mean they are sad, depressed, down in the dumps or, as we used to say when I was a kid, this person just had a bad case of the mully-grubs.
This begs another question: Why are some people blue on Sunday? The talk show host was interviewing a lady who supposedly was an authority in this field. She offered a number of reasons why some people are blue on Sunday and then offered a number of reasons to cure this malady. Most of her answers were typical, like getting out more, being involved in activities with others, reading good books and otherwise occupying their time in something productive. All of her answers sounded good, and I am sure they did help some people. However, I must say that none of her answers resonated with me.
To be sure, there are millions of people in our nation and world today who are lonely. This includes those who have lost a mate, suffered the loss of a child or other family member or gone through a divorce, and sometimes the loneliest place to be in the entire world is to be lost in a big crowd. However, this is most pronounced when everything slows down on the weekend, and most especially on Sunday -- thus, the Sunday blues. The most tragic case of all is when a person loses hope and takes his or her own life.
I certainly do not ever want to come across as an authority in this field, because I am not, but if someone were to ask me, “How do you cure the Sunday blues?” I can honestly say that I don’t recall ever having the Sunday blues. This is because I am always looking forward for Sunday to get here, because it means I am going to Bible school and church, to be fed some solid spiritual food, and have fellowship with my brothers and sisters in Christ. Anyone who has studied or knows anything at all about the Bible knows that one of the Ten Commandments says, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it Holy.”
While it has been a long time ago, I can remember growing up in a small town in southeast Arkansas, and almost every business in town was closed on Sunday. Maybe a restaurant and a gas station was all that was open. And, I might add, we made it fine. I was born and grew up in the Bible belt, and I am aware that customs and attitudes are different in other parts of the country. If you ever find yourself in a rut and have the Sunday blues on a prolonged basis, you might want to consider what I have said here,
My church family means the world to me. They were there during my late wife’s extended illness and death and the support they gave me was unbelievable. When it comes to looking for a church home, please understand there are three types -- good, better and best. Just make sure the Bible is taught, God is exalted, and the love of Christ is evidenced in the lives of everyone. To be honest, and you can certainly disagree, I don’t know of any other way to have a permanent cure for the Sunday blues.
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(EDITOR'S NOTE: Jim Davidson is a public speaker and syndicated columnist. You may contact him at 2 Bentley Drive, Conway, AR 72034. To begin a bookcase literacy project visit www.bookcaseforeverychild.com. You won’t go wrong helping a needy child.)