Observe the Sabbath

Exodus 20:8 Observe the Sabbath Day to keep it holy.

I thought it appropriate here to share with you my Sabbath practice. God set aside one day in the week for rest. We live in a 24/7 world. Many among us are working at demanding jobs – sometimes 2 or 3 – in an effort to take care of our families. Others just keep going 24/7 because we don’t know how to stop. The biggest health crisis in the country may be lack of rest, and the insatiable urges that are the result. Taking time each week to do nothing, but just rest in the Presence, could be the most important thing we can do for our health and wellbeing. At least, that’s what I decided was right for me. I started by speaking to a couple of Jewish friends who observe Sabbath to find out what they do. Then I focused on what steps I could commit to. On Saturday evening at sundown I light 2 candles and say a short prayer. I turn off the TV, the computer, the radio and don’t answer the phone until Sunday evening. I try to refrain from any activity that invites me into achievement or accomplishment. Abraham Herschel, in his poetic meditation on The Sabbath, speaks of the kind of rest you have when there is nothing more to be done; it is all finished; that is the attitude I try to bring to my Sabbath time. Some Sundays all I do is go to church and sleep. One Monday morning, through, I find myself refreshed and ready to move forward again. Many people cannot set aside a whole day, but even an hour or 2 of quiet rest without expectations or distractions can reconnect you with Spirit.

So that is why I don’t blog on Sunday.

Prayer: Dear God, We live in a world that constantly calls us to do, and measures us by what or how well we do, when all you want from us is to Be Present. Teach us to stop and be still and rest in your Divine Arms, knowing that coming back to you is to come back to ourselves. Amen.