Repackaging Shabbos

Shabbos has been a demarcation time forever, though my personal form of elevating this day has shown a few incarnations over the decades, As a generalization, my personal observance has become more stringent over time, much like a Wall Street graph that shows a long term trend with up and down fluctuations amid the trend.  Coronavirus, that submicroscopic sphere with red spikes on all the pictures, basically eliminated shul as a destination.  It also gave me and excuse not to drive, which I haven't for about a month.  Instead, I lounge around the house, watch big screen TV, read recipes from my many cook books imagining the menu of my next grand creation.  I don't read anything of Jewish content, unless the cook book happens to be a Kosher one.  Torah is reviewed as part of weekly preparation.  I usually have some Jewish reading in progress, currently going through the 150 psalms five per day but since I do it on my cell phone's Sefaria app, this suspends for shabbos.  I still do my scheduled treadmill session as health maintenance since the ability to measure is essential to the goal.  While some variant of services is available as is our Rabbi's weekly sermon, I find each too much like Junior Congregation of old and never returned following a quick sample.

While it's not sensory deprivation, not even spiritual deprivation, the current form constitutes some form of deprivation.  Maybe those few fast quips with people at kiddush are worth the time sitting in the chapel during the service.  Maybe I should get back in the car and admire a park or nature.  I probably might if I were not retired but I can go any time.  Shabbos is really about setting aside, previously trips to the mall but now the car.  But in exchange for setting aside, there is an expectation that something else will be elevated in its place.  For a long time that was my leisurely breakfast out during my working years.  Then it became public worship, or communal gathering in the form of public worship as my attention often focused elsewhere. Now I've given up the car, which is a form of deprivation, but not really elevated anything of value that I found myself unable to pursue during the week.  It's a different style of shabbos, but a very incomplete one, and not an especially gratifying one.