Blue Laws once shaped our world

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work, but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God. In it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day, wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20:8-11, King James Bible)

Regardless of our faith, most of us know the Scripture telling us to take a day of rest — it’s the fourth of God’s 10 commandments — but few of us take it seriously.
If you are of my generation you also recall when with few exceptions it was not an option under Missouri “Blue Laws.” If you are much younger, though, you likely never heard of Blue Laws. You might even doubt such laws even existed.
But, we know. We remember when Sunday closing laws helped shape our culture — particularly our commerce — by shuttering the doors of businesses.
Right or wrong, Blue Laws were a big part of what made our world different when I was growing up in the Ozarks. Once a week they slowed the pace of our lives, forced us to stay home with family and reinforced the commandment and Christian tradition of resting every seventh day. I’m not sure, but it may have been Blue Laws that established Sunday, rather than Saturday, as the observed sabbath.
Sunday closings were central to our discussion in Sunday School just a couple of weeks ago, starting with a tip of the hat to Chick-Fil-A and Hobby Lobby, both national businesses that observe the Judaeo-Christian tradition.
Though Blue Laws are rooted in holy tradition, I think we can agree taking a day off every week is simply good for our health and emotional welfare. Not only should we take the day off, but we should cut out the long working hours we seem to pride ourselves on, based on studies showing overwork shortens our lives. But, that’s fodder for another discussion.
Though law no longer requires businesses to close — the Missouri Supreme Court ruled Blue Laws unconstitutional in 1963 — many local businesses choose not to open on Sundays simply both as a practical matter and out of respect for the religious admonition. Many here even close early on Saturday.
Growing up in the rural Ozarks, though, I’ve long respected the necessity of sometimes working on Sunday. Even Christ assented to “pulling a neighbor’s oxen out of a ditch” on the sabbath. The adage “make hay when the sun shines” was particularly applicable when I was a young man working in the neighbors’ hayfields. Even the most pious of those farmers would reluctantly call for help when rain threatened new hay on the ground.
When Blue Laws were common, the restrictions varied from state-to-state and sometimes from county-to-county, and were not consistent in what they allowed or disallowed.
Though only a few items were prohibited when I was in college, such as Sunday sales of beer, I was thankful food was not among them. While working at Bonanza Sirloin Pit I was on the job open-to-close nearly every Sunday for three years. To the owner’s credit, he allowed certain Baptist Bible College students to have the day for worship, and he had plenty of we “backslid” Southwest Missouri State kids to help feed the hordes of good church-goers who packed our dining rooms.
Though eased in Missouri, I found traditional Blue Laws still strictly enforced in North Carolina when the U.S. Air Force sent me and Dee to the Tarheel  State in 1971. Rarely were the laws more than mild convenience, except on one Sunday when we ran out of disposable diapers for infant Angela; our washing machine was broken, all of her cloth diapers soaking in a pail, and local stores could sell us no diapers of any sort.
That was the day Blue Laws became insufferably stupid, in our minds.
Thank goodness for kitchen towels.
My attitude softer 50 years hence, and I wonder if the world would not again be a kinder place under Blue Laws. Retail businesses might suffer at first, but we could still visit them on Monday through Saturday and surely manage one day without going to the store. We could spend time with one another. What a novel idea!
But, under strict interpretation, we might not have anywhere to go to take them out to eat. So, I reckon the freedom to choose is best overall.
If I don’t want to work on Sunday, I don’t have to.
Of course, I’m retired. Every day but Sunday is Saturday, and I don’t have to work then either — unless I choose to.