Sabbath-keeping is about what you do with your hands.
Hands are organs for action. We set our hands to tasks. We give or withhold our hands from helping.
You keep Sabbath by opening your hands, rather than grasping with them (cf. Deuteronomy 15:3, 7). Sabbath hands release debts, give food to the hungry and clothing to the naked.
You keep Sabbath by guarding your hands, so they do nothing profane, no evil (Isaiah 56:2).
Dear Reader,
Can I be direct with you?
War abroad. Socialists on the rise. AI upending human life. Endless uproar online. The modern attention economy doesn’t want readers — it wants users enslaved to the tyranny of the present.
First Things is the antidote: literary excellence, timeless truths, and a fixed point of reference in a culture that has lost its bearings.
But we can’t do it without readers like you.
Our goal: Raise $150,000 by November 1 to sustain First Things in the year ahead.
Your gift anchors readers in the permanent things.
Make your Fall Campaign gift now using the button below.
If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Giovanni Del Piero, Director of the Editor’s Circle, at gdelpiero@firstthings.com or 212-627-1985.
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