"Having made the principle of Sunday- keeping plain, make the practice pleasant. Let it be a joyous day- everybody in his best temper and gentlest manners. Put anxious cares aside on Sunday, for the children's sake; and if there be no "vain deluding mirth," let there be gaiety of heart and talk.
Let the day be full of its own special interests and amusements. An hour's reading aloud, from Sunday to Sunday, of a work of real power and interest, might add to the interest of Sunday afternoon; and this family reading should supply a pleasant intellectual stimulus.
A little poetry may well be got in; there is time to digest it on Sunday... any poet who feeds the heart with wise thoughts, and does not too much disturb the peace of the day with the stir of life and passion. The point in the Sunday readings and occupations is, to keep the heart at peace and the mind alive and receptive, open to any holy impression which may come from above, it may be in the fields or by the fireside."
- Charlotte Mason, Formation of Character, p. 211
I (we) have seen it with our own kids on lazy Sunday afternoons... too much laying around indoors and not enough spiritual reading or time outdoors. It's not good for the body or the soul. We have been more intentional with our Sundays (for probably a year now) and I wanted to recommend one book that I read aloud on Sundays (usually when Steve is at his meetings). It's called God So Loved the World by Elizabeth Goudge. I simply love Goudge. When I saw this in my favorite used bookstore/barn, I knew it would be a treasure and it has not disappointed me yet. I gather the girls around when the younger three are napping/resting and we usually read just a few short sections each time but it is enough to meditate on.
It is only available used but it is worth it if you are looking for something to meditate on. This would also be good devotional reading throughout the year; she just writes so well!
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