When talking about honoring sabbath time, preachers tend to give examples of a younger generation who are caught on a treadmill of shuffling kids to a variety of activities, parents with non-traditional work schedules, involvement in classrooms or little league teams, etc.
Those are all valid. It is good for people who fall into that time of life to look critically at where they are not finding times of Sabbath rest.
Aging members of the Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers are slowing down. Physical limitations keep them at home more than they would like.
Because of cognitive limitations, they may select to limit activities because of embarrassment or confusion.
There are many folks (of all generations) who are lonely or alone, un- or underemployed, live with limitations or depression which take them out of their own community. What does sabbath mean to them? How do we reimagine Sabbath as more than only slowing down and doing less?
For people who wish they could do more(*) or those who feel abandon by God, what is the Good News of Sabbath for them?
“Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27
Sabbath is not merely going to church. Sabbath keeping includes both our individual and communal ways of intentionally connecting back with God. Life can push God to the edges, the dark corners. Reconnecting with the grace of God in sabbath keeping pulls us back - to ourselves, the God-image in each of us.
Sabbath also reconnects us to the Body of Christ. So that solitary walk in the woods on a Sunday morning may be a beautiful prayerful activity, but does not address the fullness of Sabbath keeping. We need each other not just to lend a helping hand but so that we see Christ in one another. That “seeing” informs our “doing”.
Under this broad “both/and” definition, how does someone who is separated from their community and much of their previous freedoms participate in sabbath? Again, what is the Good News of sabbath for the not-so-busy?
At the heart it is the same: you are not loved and worthy because of all that you do. You are loved and worthy of love because you are you - Beloved Child of God. For the Too Busy that message helps reevaluate all the comings and goings. How much of what you do is so that you can be (or seen to be) good?
For the Not-So-Busy, you are loved and worthy for who you are now...including your limitations. Just as people’s divine goodness is not defined by what they do, that same divine goodness is not affected by what you cannot do anymore. (Drive. Remember your family. Leave the house. Clean yourself. Work.)
Sabbath is not about God controlling our Sunday mornings. Sabbath keeping is about receiving. It is good news for all of us: intentionally receiving the promise of connection with God in ourselves, in each other and in the world.
~ Pam
*I want to acknowledge the work of family members who are full-time care givers. This is a reality beyond “busy”. (This maybe be worth its own blog post.)
Those are all valid. It is good for people who fall into that time of life to look critically at where they are not finding times of Sabbath rest.
Aging members of the Greatest Generation and Baby Boomers are slowing down. Physical limitations keep them at home more than they would like.
Because of cognitive limitations, they may select to limit activities because of embarrassment or confusion.
There are many folks (of all generations) who are lonely or alone, un- or underemployed, live with limitations or depression which take them out of their own community. What does sabbath mean to them? How do we reimagine Sabbath as more than only slowing down and doing less?
For people who wish they could do more(*) or those who feel abandon by God, what is the Good News of Sabbath for them?
“Sabbath was made for humankind, not humankind for the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27
Sabbath is not merely going to church. Sabbath keeping includes both our individual and communal ways of intentionally connecting back with God. Life can push God to the edges, the dark corners. Reconnecting with the grace of God in sabbath keeping pulls us back - to ourselves, the God-image in each of us.
Sabbath also reconnects us to the Body of Christ. So that solitary walk in the woods on a Sunday morning may be a beautiful prayerful activity, but does not address the fullness of Sabbath keeping. We need each other not just to lend a helping hand but so that we see Christ in one another. That “seeing” informs our “doing”.
Under this broad “both/and” definition, how does someone who is separated from their community and much of their previous freedoms participate in sabbath? Again, what is the Good News of sabbath for the not-so-busy?
At the heart it is the same: you are not loved and worthy because of all that you do. You are loved and worthy of love because you are you - Beloved Child of God. For the Too Busy that message helps reevaluate all the comings and goings. How much of what you do is so that you can be (or seen to be) good?
For the Not-So-Busy, you are loved and worthy for who you are now...including your limitations. Just as people’s divine goodness is not defined by what they do, that same divine goodness is not affected by what you cannot do anymore. (Drive. Remember your family. Leave the house. Clean yourself. Work.)
Sabbath is not about God controlling our Sunday mornings. Sabbath keeping is about receiving. It is good news for all of us: intentionally receiving the promise of connection with God in ourselves, in each other and in the world.
~ Pam
*I want to acknowledge the work of family members who are full-time care givers. This is a reality beyond “busy”. (This maybe be worth its own blog post.)
