Posted on

Practical Suggestions for Keeping Sabbath

While I believe that having a day of rest during the week (i.e., Sabbath), I also recognize that this can be challenging in the middle of the demands and pressures of life.

The following are some practical suggestions for how to do it, adapted from Scholar’s Compass: Remembering Sabbath – Emerging Scholars Blog:

  • “Pick a day of the week or weekend in which you can keep a Sabbath.”
  • During Sabbath time, “turn off computers and cell phones” as much as possible. If you need to use your phone, then turn off notifications or change the home screen to include only apps that are not related to work or to distraction.
  • Plan not to work during this time. This is easier if there are no significant deadlines looming or other significant responsibilities the next day. It helps also not to go into the space where you work, use your work desk, or open apps or programs related to work.
  • Do not fill the day with chores or other non-paid work, “unless is it personally rejuvenating for you.”
  • “Plan times with family and friends that are rejuvenating [while] not frenzied with preparation. For example, if friends are coming for a meal on your Sabbath, pick up some food that’s already prepared, prepare the meal the day before,” or share the joy of cooking together.
  • Spend extra time with God. You can do this through going to church, reading the Bible, journalling, praying, etc. But you can also do this by going into nature, walking or biking, reading, socializing, or by taking naps – all practices where you practice letting go of doing more and trust that in and through God, it will be enough.
Posted on

Further thoughts on Sabbath

As we start looking toward the fall, and anticipating what is a busy season for many of us, it seemed helpful to share some reflections on Sabbath, in the hope that this might help people better integrate Sabbath into their lives.

The following quotes are from Slowing Down and Rediscovering the Sacred in a Hurried World, by Youngkhill Lee:

“The act of slowing down is not merely practical; it is profoundly theological. It challenges the idols of our age—efficiency, control, and achievement—and reorients us toward the sovereignty of God. At its core, the practice of slowing down is an embodied act of trust. When we pause, we acknowledge that the world is upheld not by our striving but by the Creator’s sustaining hand…. In slowing down, we resist the world’s lie that our worth is tied to what we produce.”

“Our modern obsession with speed has deeply spiritual consequences…. Life becomes a series of tasks to accomplish rather than a gift to steward. This frenetic pace fractures our attention, diminishes our capacity for meaningful relationships, and numbs us to the presence of God.”

“Slowing down is not a passive withdrawal from the world but an active participation in God’s sanctifying work. It is a spiritual discipline that cultivates attentiveness to God’s presence in the ordinary.”

“To slow down is also to offer a prophetic witness in a culture enslaved to speed. It declares that the kingdom of God operates on a different economy—one not driven by scarcity but by abundance… Slowing down is an act of resistance against the myth of scarcity. It proclaims that there is enough time, enough grace, enough of God’s presence for the day. It is a declaration that our hope is not in what we achieve but in who God is.”

The article ends with some discussion questions, in case you’d like to reflect further on Sabbath, either alone or with others.

Posted on

Thoughts on Sabbath

Tonight we are talking about Sabbath at Graduate Christian Fellowship. As preparation, I glanced through MaryAnn McKibben Dana’s book, Sabbath in the Suburbs. I read the book a number of years ago when I first became a parent and found it deeply encouraging. While I love the idea of Sabbath as being restful and contemplative, the reality is that it’s hard to stop from the pressures and realities of the rest of life (and when you do stop, doing nothing or binging feel like the best activities). And practising Sabbath can be hard, whether you are a parent of a small child or a single person. Dana’s book felt like a gift, a recognition that some things are worth trying to (continue to) do, even if/when we can’t do them at the level we think (or feel pressured) to do.

The following are a number of quotes from the book to provide encouragement and fodder for thought, in the hopes that they help you imagine practising Sabbath in your life:

  • Sabbath as a “day of giving up trying to change things;” a day of “not trying to improve oneself: no progress” (15), a day when we have all the time in the world, to be fully present;
  • it is ” a disruption in the liturgy, a break in the rhythm” (28)
  • a day of wonder and delight (even with food); a day “free of obligation and ‘should'” (33)
  • Sabbath hacks:
    • work/errands are sometimes necessary, but doing it differently: slowly and intentionally, unhurried, contemplatively;
    • “find the one most important thing that must be done and to put parentheses around it in order to protect the rest of the day.” (98)
    • “another approach to Sabbath – to go about one’s day as usual, even if that includes work or errands, but to fast from one thing.” (85)
  • It can help to create a list of possible Sabbath activities, including trying something new or novel; such as “pursuing an unfamiliar or nonroutine task” (75)
  • “the Jewish Sabbath emphasizes bringing one’s best self to God… but maybe we also show respect for the Holy in our lives when we bring our real selves, not our clean and made-up ones.” (107) a day to be our authentic selves, without the mask or being ‘on’
  • “Sabbath feels like a dance between the impulse for togetherness and the needs of the individual.” (110) This challenge is different but just as true for those who are single.
  • a day to “help me remember that I’m not God… help me not to be consumed by good work.” (115)
  • “on one day, we should do our utmost to let go of the annoyance and anger – even anger at things we’re justified in being angry at.” (122)
  • a pre-Sabbath prayer: “what has been done has been done, what has not been done has not been done; let it be.” (128) from New Zealand prayer book
  • a day “to make time our friend, not our enemy” (42) of “trying to make time my friend again – a real friend, not the friend I only call when I need something.” (135)
  • “letting one thing go each day is a way of acknowledging that perfection will always be beyond me. It also helps me find a little bit of Sabbath each day.”(135)

Some reflections from Dana on her experience:

  • Dana: “Sabbath seems designed to make life as inconvenient as possible…. Sometimes, I can see a holy purpose iin the inconvenience. Other times, I’m just annoyed.” (83)
  • Dana had thought Sabbath would provide rest so that she could do more, but Sabbath isn’t so we can pack the rest of our week; “Sabbath is making me want to do even less the rest of the time.” (91)
  • “There isn’t ever enough time. Even when we strip away all the inessentials – even when we focus only on the things that are good and nourishing and important for ourselves, our families, and the world – there is still not enough time. But our hope is not in there being enough time but in there being enough grace to muddle through the scarcities or our days.” (150)

The Well also provides several helpful reflections on the Sabbath: