Down time

Tomorrow my sermon is about Sabbath.

Perhaps one of my more hypocritical sermons because one would hope that when a preacher delivers a message that it at least has a grounding in the faith practices of the one who is doing the preaching. In short I could be doing better at Sabbath observance.

I've learned more about Sabbath from the time I was leaving seminary to the present. I do remember some things about Sabbath when I was a child. I remember my parents complained that the pharmacy WASN'T open on Sundays because of the blue laws (for those under 38 that's when stores were required to close because Sunday was "The Lord's Day"-this of course assumes that all days aren't the Lord's and that Sunday itself was actually the true Sabbath).

Seventh Day Adventists have Saturday as the Sabbath, as does the Jewish Faith Tradition. We Christians observe Sunday as the Sabbath-sort of. I know preachers who wouldn't cut their grass on Sunday-not because they wanted to spend more time honoring God-but because it seemed more righteous to live by the letter of the law rather than the Spirit of the law "Remeber the Sabbath Day and Keep it holy." being one of the top ten commandments NOT written by a team of writers working for Letterman.

They also encouraged people not to shop on Sundays-because in so doing-they were supporting the sin of those having to work on the Sabbath.

Orthodox Judaism observes Sabbath from the sunset of Friday through the Sunset of Saturday evening-and they take it to heart-letter of the law not to do any work or activity that is not completely necessary (see Leviticus for a list of things you can do on the Sabbath like "get your ass out of a ditch"-meaning your wild beast not coloquial for your own hind quarters).

But what I've learned-or think I've learned is that Sabbath isn't a set day-it's actually a way of being. It is a state in which a person chooses consciously to disengage from all that is worry driven and laden with responsibility in order to contemplate sometimes the Holy, but sometimes just the belly button. Jesus said in response to those who criticized his disciples for picking grain on the Sabbath as breakers of the law and thus sinful people ignoring their relationship with God. Jesus tells the critics "The Sabbath was made for humanity, not humanity made for the Sabbath."

So resting, spending quiet time-not necessarily prayer and Bible reading-but that can be part of it-spending time just BE-ing. Not moving necessarily, maybe counting breaths, maybe just holding on tightly to your loved ones in a hug, or smelling the flowers in your back yard, inhaling the air intentionally from a breeze-it is in short an awareness that all is not centered on you-and that you in fact are part of something-a reality much bigger than yourself-and that the world and all the planets will go on spinning even if you decide to stop and do something to care for yourself.

So perhaps the definition of Sabbath I believe is: The act of caring for oneself as a response of gratitude for the grace and love God has shown us in an active or passive way of being-happening during a set period of time-at least twenty four hours in length and having at least some connection to the awareness that there is a God and it is not you. It may require being by oneself, and also can include those who nourish and build you up and require from you only that you be your authentic self.

So I hope for my sake-and the sake of all who read this-that I am able to observe Sabbath faithfully to honor God-and to honor the gift of who I am. It is in our honoring of our authentic selves that we bring glory to God for having created us in the way that God did.

Much grace to you and yours,
Dwight