Robert Peele: Relaxing Sundays

Regarding the May 30 Point of View “Why NC should say yes to Sunday hunts”: Hunting on Sundays? Why certainly! We do everything else on Sunday, so why not hunting, too? It’s a 24/7/365 world now. Sunday is no different from any other day in the eyes of most residents.

Traditionally, Sunday was set apart from the everyday, mundane existence that prevailed Monday through Saturday. We couldn’t shop on Sunday. We couldn’t transact business on Sunday as no banks were open, no stores were open.

Of course, it’s much different now. Sunday is just another day to shop, to browse in stores, to go places, to do all kinds of things. Some people still worship on Sunday, but those numbers are declining.

In my youth, growing up in Eastern North Carolina, nothing was open on Sunday. If we didn’t attend church, we could either sit home and read the papers or perhaps we could visit with friends and family. It was a slow day of rest. I don’t recall anybody being particularly bothered by it, though. It was a sort of forced rest.

The other days of the week were for doing “stuff.” Sunday was different.

This story was originally published June 6, 2015 at 2:00 AM with the headline "Robert Peele: Relaxing Sundays."