Sabbath

  8 Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9For six days you shall labour and do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.   

For many of us as we enter the summer season in Canada, it is a time of rest and relaxation. It is a time to appreciate our families, embrace creation and enjoy outdoor sports and activities.  That’s the plan anyway!  

We’re in our 5th month of the pandemic and people make comments like, “I don’t know where the time has gone.  I am as busy as I’ve always been and haven’t accomplished as much as I had hoped for.”  In general, we value busyness.  We tend to believe that a busy person is an important person and somehow just relaxing is a character flaw.  

I had a friend back in Alberta who always used to say that we are human beings, not human doers – and so just being should be enough!  It seems like rest is fine for the God that created and is creating.  We admire Jesus who modelled a rhythm to life of preaching, teaching, healing; followed by a time of withdrawal, rest, contemplation and prayer.  But for us, we always need to be “on” – even when we are supposed to be enjoying a day off or are forced into time off by COVID, we jump to respond whenever our smart phone rings, whistles or plays a witty tune.  We compulsively not only check but respond to e-mails and have turned our chosen and our enforced days off into lists of yard work, house work, cleaning and organizing.  

Rev. Dr. Orange tells us, “Sabbath is not a suggestion. Sabbath is a command. It made the top ten list. We all know murder is wrong, yet we blatantly ignore the sabbath. Sabbath is not about doing absolutely nothing, but it is about rest and disconnecting from work. Sabbath means connecting with God and doing those things that bring you great joy that are not your work.”

Sabbath doesn’t have to be a time of nothingness and it doesn’t necessarily have to be on Sunday.  It should be a time of great joy where we focus on those things that are life giving to us.  As soon as we engage in technology, we are focusing on what the rest of the world wants from us – not what we need from life and what God desires for us in our life.

Sabbath is a difficult practise. But it is important.  That’s why it is the fourth commandment. Like all practises in life, it can be difficult to sustain.  I wish I could say that I was “that guy” who practised sabbath every week but unfortunately, I somehow allow life to get in the way. I do try to practise Sabbath regularly and it enhances my life and the life of my family in ways that I am hard pressed to articulate.  It helps me to connect to God, to myself and the ones I love in a deep and profound way.  Just as a journey begins with the first step, a practise of sabbath begins with the first day of rest.

Before you go to bed the night before your Sabbath, turn off your phone and your computer.  As difficult as it seems, trust me, the world will still be there in two days when you choose to reconnect.  When you get up in the morning, give thanks for the day and enjoy that second cup of coffee.  Engage in a spiritual practise – go to church (maybe even virtual), read scripture or something meaningful, meditate, do yoga, pray, sing – something that will help connect you with the creator.  Then spend the day with someone you love (even if that is just yourself) and DO SOMETHING that brings you great joy.  It could be a hike, browsing a book store, kayaking, reading, fishing, golfing, or even something as simple or maybe I should say as important as a nap.  What is important is to resist doing those things that you think you should be doing and replace them with those that give joy and meaning to your life. At the end of the day, give thanks and you’ll be refreshed, relaxed, filled with the spirit and ready to take on a new week. 

Summer is a great time to begin the practise of Sabbath because there are so many opportunities to do things that bring us joy.  As we work at it, and are more intentional – it will become easier.  When we begin to reap the benefits of Sabbath, we will begin to understand why it made the top ten and soon it will be a weekly practise that helps us become spirit filled people of faith.

Shabbat Shalom! 

Wayne