Commenting on this Sunday’s text, N.T. Wright states,

It’s difficult to remember what life was like when I was a boy. It’s even harder for young people today to imagine what it was like in their own country 50 years ago. Almost everything has changed drastically. In England, one change is particularly noticeable. When I was young, everybody kept Sunday as a very special day. Just a few decades ago, in the average English town, there were no shops open on Sundays; there was no professional sport – yes, no football, no racing; everything was very, very quiet. Nothing like today.

A cartoon of the time sums up the attitude, and the problem. An axious father, worried about what the neighbours may say, tells his little girl she mustn’t play with her hoop in the street on Sunday. She should go into the back garden. ‘Isn’t it Sunday in the back garden?’ asks the girl.

- Mark for Everyone, 29