Take a Rest

When I imagined what it would be like to observe and embrace a year of spiritual rhythms, I pictured it being like floating lazily down a river on an inner tube.

What I did not expect was that, less than two weeks into the experiment, I would slam full force into the brick wall of my own stubbornness.

It seems appropriate that, between MY new year and THE new year, I would visit the idea of Sabbath. This weekly pattern of work and rest copies the rhythm God used when he created the everything. It sounds so peaceful.

Or it sounded peaceful until I started reading what's involved. Keeping in mind that Sabbath is not about rules and laws, but about honoring God, here are some of the guidelines and the reasons behind them.

Principle: God rested from creating on the 7th day. We, too, should rest from creating.

Action: No creating anything. No writing, knitting, sculpting, composing, building. Let your creative side rest.

Resistance: I can't remember a day when I created nothing. Without that outlet, I am restless, fidgety, unproductive. (Ah, there's the rub. By definition, God was unproductive on the 7th day. So why does the very idea of it make me feel guilty?)

Principle: Don't light a fire on the Sabbath. Don't use heat to change something in any way.

Action: No cooking. No boiling water. And no driving since the car uses a spark to start the engine. Oh, and don't turn on any lights.

Resistance: The act of turning on a stove or turning the key in a car seem much less like work than making all the arrangements ahead of time to make sure I don't need to cook anything (apparently a crockpot dinner is okay if I turn it on before sunset on Friday) or drive anywhere.

There are many, many other rules for the Sabbath: No tearing paper towels or toilet paper (pre-tear to avoid this law), no using electricity, no using money, no telephones, no harvesting. All of these are supposed to bring us into closer relationship with God.

I'm not as interested in keeping every minutia and the Mishkan (the set of 39 principles to follow) as I am to explore and experience the sensation of rest. Jesus defined what that meant when he healed on the Sabbath, when he and his disciples picked and ate grain on the Sabbath, when he challenged the purpose of the Sabbath.

Don't expect to hear from me on Saturday this week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Photo via Visualhunt