This month I am focusing on taking some Sabbath rest for myself as a spiritual discipline. To me taking Sabbath rest doesn’t have to be a full day, but it does need to be time taken in the week to rest with Spirit. Sabbath is about taking time to feed your spirit. I’ve decided that for me this means spending time in a book. Since I was a little boy books have been what feeds my imagination. As a secret introvert books are what gives me energy to spend time with other people. Books help me not escape the world, but to rest in it. What helps you feed your spirit and engage more fully in the world around you?
Jewish tradition helps us realize that Sabbath is designed to help us have a taste of what a life lived fully in God would be like. It allows for us to be fully alive. This means that we are to be a part of the beautiful world that is all around us. Poet Mary Oliver once said “if you don’t think heaven is close, how will you ever find it.” It’s true, how can we experience God if we don’t think that the beauty of God’s love is all around us already. That is what Sabbath is. Taking time to stop and realize that the beauty of God’s love is already here, it’s experiencing a bit of heaven on earth. To me that is taking time to read something (usually in a coffee shop with a chai latte). Take some time. Whether it’s with others or by yourself, engage in the world. Let go of gaining things, and just be. Be who you were created to be.
Amen,
Justin
