I have begun taking a sabbath. I should have been doing this for a long time; perhaps I thought that a few hours at a church service qualified for a day of rest. No. What I mean by taking a sabbath is to take a whole day off from work that drains, the attempt at accomplishing, draining activities that do not replenish.
As I spend my Sunday's resting, renewing my spirit, playing, feasting, etc, I am going to read through Marva Dawn's book Keeping the Sabbath Wholly. The first chapter is titled "Ceasing Work". I was moved and motivated to trust God with my work; to put it aside for one day and trust the LORD for wisdom and guidance in my papers, reading and classes. It also moved me to work more efficiently the other six days.
I want to share something from her book that inspired me; perhaps it will inspire you as well to look into taking a day to set aside to refresh and refuel your relationship with yourself and God.
"This book is dedicated to all the people who need the Sabbath -
the busiest, who need to work from a cohesive, unfragmented self;
social activists, who need a cycle of worship and action;
those who chase after fulfillment and need to understand their deepest yearnings and to hear the silence;
those who have lost their ability to play because of the materialism and technologization of our society, who need beauty and gaiety and delight;
those who have lost their passion and need to get in touch with feelings;
those who are alone and need emotional nourishment;
those who live in community and need solitude;
those who cannot find their life's priorities and need a new perspective;
those who think the future is dictated by the present, who need hope and visions of the future to change the present order;
those who long for a deeper family life and want to nurture certain values;
the poor and the oppressed, who need to mourn and to dance in the prison camp;
the rich and the oppressors, who need to learn nonviolence, stewardship, and God's purposes in the world;
those who suffer, who need to learn how suffering can be redemptive;
professional theologians, who need to bring the heart back into theology;
those who don't know how religion fits into the modern world, who need a relationship with God;
those who are disgusted with dry, empty, formalistic worship and want to love and adore God;
those who want to be God's instruments, enabled and empowered by the Spirit to be world changers and Sabbath healers.
Are you enticed? Curious maybe? I am excited to see what God has in store for me.
