From the Rector…
I will admit, I am a summer kind of girl, but last week’s snow days were perfect. The staff and I came to work Tuesday morning to finalize preparations for the annual meeting, and then I spent Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesday lazily in front of a fire playing with the Tweedles and watching too much television. It was perfect and reminded me of the importance of Sabbath rest.
I am not very good at taking Sabbath. I like to work, be it church-related or a home improvement project. I rarely ever sit around and do nothing. I’m not sure how the Victorians did it. There legalization of the Sabbath introduced several different types of laws that all encouraged people to stay home and do nothing. Sundays were meant for church and then sitting quietly the rest of the day. I’m sure this was physically restorative, but I don’t know how they didn’t go stir crazy.
Jewish law also requires rest and stillness on the Sabbath. You are only allowed so many steps and it is forbidden to do anything that looks like work including pushing the button on the elevator or adjusting the thermostat. When I was in Jerusalem a few years ago, one of the elevators was designated for Jews who observed Sabbath—it would automatically open at every floor of the hotel. I learned very quickly not to get on that elevator!
Sabbath is rooted in the creation story when God “rested” on the seventh day. It is called sabbath because God blessed it and made it hallowed i.e. holy. It was the moment when God finished the work he had done and could rest in all of creation. I imagine there must have been a sense of joy and wonder in that first observance of sabbath as God soaked up the earth and all that was in it—still shiny and new.
Rarely do I feel like I have “finished” my work. Too often, one task simply leads into the next. I don’t do a good job of taking a moment to appreciate what I have accomplished, much less resting in it. The times that I have, I’ve discovered greater appreciation for my life, my work, the opportunities I have been given, the people who have helped along the way—it has sparked a sense of gratitude that grows each time I pause for even just a moment of sabbath.
Sabbath is not just a day in which we sit around and wallow in laziness—though it might be. If the wallowing helps you to appreciate all that you have and all that you give, it is offering you Sabbath rest. If the wallowing is just a way of avoiding what needs to be done or procrastinating from your responsibilities, then its probably not sabbath. Sabbath should offer us rest and that rest becomes the ground from which gratitude is nourished.
It is important to take sabbath time in order to rest and reflect and grow in gratitude. That looks different for every person. Some people take silent retreats, others meditate, some play sports or sew or read or watch tv. It doesn’t matter how you engage in sabbath time; it matters what it produces for you. If you find yourself just as tired and ill-tempered at the end of a perceived sabbath time, I will wager it wasn’t true sabbath and that it may well have been laziness or procrastination or avoidance. Sabbath is not about any of those things, it is about renewal. When you feel renewed, you find yourself ever grateful for the world and all that life offers you be it challenge or joy.
Winter is a great season to practice sabbath—it is as if when God created the world, he designed a season in which the days were shorter, and the temperatures were colder to encourage us to do a little less and find rest and renewal for ourselves: our souls and bodies. We may not get any more snow this season, but there is always opportunity for sabbath.
Light and Life,
Candice+