I am by no
means an expert on sabbath, either the theological concept or the implementation
of this concept, but I wanted to share some thoughts on sabbath that I find
helpful. This essay is intended as much as a future resource for me as anyone
else.
There is a lot I could same about
sabbath that I will save for another post. God in His infinite wisdom has been
very good to us by telling us to take a day off and trust Him, not our
perception of our control, to keep the world spinning. The Bible is full of God’s
evidence why we need sabbath and why it was made for us (Mark 2.27).
I first started observing a sabbath in university. Ever Friday after
class, I was free to do whatever I wanted. In the weeks around midterm season,
when this time was most threatened or neglected, I found that I quickly grew
discouraged. There were weeks where every hour for at least seven days was
assigned a task; there was no room for margin or error, and this would become
overwhelming. By having one afternoon, just part of a day to relax, I was able
to diffuse the pressure and the monotony surrounding me. No matter how busy I
was, I had my Friday afternoons to have fun. This same scenario continued after
university when I began working with Chi Alpha Campus Ministries. God knew we
needed sabbath and we never outgrow this need.
I am currently working with Chi Alpha while going to grad school part
time. Balancing these two potentially fulltime endeavors has put my sabbath
observance to the test. I remember the first few weekends once grad school
started being tempted not to take a sabbath. There was ministry work and
classwork piling up, how could I take a day off? I tried this one weekend and
clearly remember God, during my prayer time, telling me this was an unwise
choice. Yes, I was busier than I had been, but He knew that I still needed
rest. If I was going to survive, I still needed sabbath. Since then, I have
done my best to honor God’s command. There are some weeks this is not possible
such as our weekend fall retreat in October or SALT conference in January, but
these are the exception not the norm and the Lord knows the intention of my
heart.
An important principle I have found
with my experiences of sabbath is recreation. The goal of sabbath is to rest;
to rest and trust God. A lot of time we think sabbath should be free and unrestricted
time. I find that unrestricted time often turns into unintentional time which
becomes wasted time. Instead, I am very intentional about how I spend my
sabbath. I want my sabbath to be purposeful. To do this, I differentiate
between entertainment and recreation. Entertainment is fun. It is good in
moderation, but counterproductive when overindulged in like candy. Our society
is great at pointing us toward (and selling us) entertainment. There is less
focus on recreation.
By recreation, I do not only mean going to a park or participating in an
organized sport, although these activities could qualify. My focus is on the
idea of re-creation; finding what
activities help me or others to rebuild our hearts, minds, and souls that are
tired after the week’s work. An easy question to ask is what is lifegiving? What are activities that make me feel refreshed
after spending an hour or two? I love watching movies, but after a couple of
hours I begin to feel antsy. But I can write or read for a few hours and feel
more energetic and accomplished afterward. As I said, moderation is important.
Some people can participate in one recreational activity for hours and feel
rested; I often need to do a few things for a few hours to feel the most
rested. I also believe that creativity is an important part of sabbathing. God
has made us to be creative and activities where we get to express this
God-given creativity are often recreational. It can be as simple taking a fun
photo to post on Instagram, it does not have to be some grand artistic feat. I
have an Instagram account where I create scenes and take pictures of Lego
people and I usually only get to do this on my sabbath.
To brainstorm recreational activities, I keep a list of things that I
wish I had time to do during the busy work week. If I had more time, what would I want to spend my time doing? I
then filter this list through the question will
I feel accomplished afterward? If the answer is ‘yes,’ then this activity
is a good candidate for sabbatical recreation.
I keep a list of activities on my phone to help me be purposeful with my sabbaths.
I also add to this list, for a given week, if there is something specific that I
wish I had time for. The items on my current list are:
·
Pray
·
Walk Hobbit (our dog)
·
Write (fiction)
·
Read [current theological or faith-building
book]
·
Read fiction
·
Get donuts
·
Lego instagram
·
Yard work
·
Water the air plants
·
Bake something
·
Make sugar cubes
This is my current list. During a given sabbath time, I will pull up this
list and check through some of the activities. I do not usually get to all
these items in one sabbath. That is fine; this list is to help me remember what
is recreational for me and not some goal I must strive for. But as I spend time
on some of these activities, I do feel accomplished and purposeful. At the end
of my sabbath, I can reflect on my time and feel satisfied with the fun things
I had time to do because of my sabbath.
