In some senses I have no right even writing about this topic, especially as I am writing it on my “technical” day off! (Yes, I have Friday off, but to be honest I almost never take a full day. I usually knock off about noon). But I’m going to write about “it” anyway. Partly because I need to write an article for my newsletter by noon, and partly because I really believe in the concept of Sabbath! So here goes.
For most of my life I have been an over-achiever. I may not have been the smartest kid in my class (always pretty close to it but never quite there). I may not have been the best basketball player, or the best French horn player. But by the end of the season, or by my senior year, I was on the starting team or in first chair. My secret? I worked my you know what off! I spent twice as much time and effort in the practice room playing scales and improving my range. I spent twice as much time and effort perfecting my “sweet shot”--the 3 from the left corner. And because of that work ethic and perfected skill, there might have been someone taller, someone quicker, someone with a vertical jump way higher, but I could hit the 3 from the corner so I got the start!
The problem with this strategy is that, in the long haul, it doesn’t work very well, UNLESS you learn how to create Sabbath in your life. Unless you learn how to rest and re-create in a way that restores your soul. And that’s not easy for an over-achiever like me. And if you are like me in that you believe that it all rests on your shoulders, if you don’t learn how to do Sabbath, you will surely end up in trouble, or burnt out, our plain worn out and angry.
The key to Sabbath is a core belief that “you” are not up all the time. The key to Sabbath is a core belief that “you” aren’t the one who restores, but that you can really unplug in a way that “God” will restore! (If you’re interested, there is an incredible Psalm that talks about this in our Bible. You may even know it: “The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters. He restores my soul.” Psalm 23) To live into Sabbath, you have to believe that “the sacred” is imbedded in other “living” things. You must believe that Someone has you. You must believe in a God who “catches” us. Because if you don’t you will never really “rest”! The key to Sabbath is trust, and I’ll be honest with you, I struggle with trusting…I always have. And because of that lack of trust, I have a hard time resting. I don’t do Sabbath well.
But here’s the good news, we can learn to do Sabbath better! We can learn to identify the underlying core “untruths” we believe that are sabotaging our Sabbath work. One of my core “untruths” about Sabbath is that I must be someone I am not in order to rest in God. I’m not, for instance, very good at silence. I read all the spiritual giants and they keep talking about silence, but I have come to believe that most of those “silent” giants are introverts at their heart. Silence works for them. For me, you know what works and revives my soul? Singing! And not singing alone but singing with a group. Sabbath for me is sitting in a choir and singing with others. This last Wednesday I left the church at 9 p.m. after a 14-hour day and felt more refreshed than I’ve ever been! Why? Because from 5:30-8:30 p.m. I was singing in two groups, and I wasn’t in charge! Will Rand, our new Minister of Music and Worship Arts, was in charge and I got to do what I do best, sit back and sing bass! I left absolutely revived! I had had 3 hours of Sabbath time! For me, my Sabbath includes laughter, and singing, and fellowship!
The second “untruth” that I often hold, is that Sabbath needs to be a particular day. A Sunday, or a Friday. And because I can’t spare a full day, I just give up on the concept. I believe, now, that a better way to look at Sabbath is to think of it in moments. Singing “Goodness, Love, and Mercy” in the shower every morning. (This is a great song about Psalm 23. Listen here!) Listening to Bach’s “Fugue in G Minor” on the Paradise Road as I go into work. (Listen here!) Hey, it’s great to have a day of Sabbath, but it shouldn’t throw you into guilt mode! Try carving out 3 or 4 moments a day that you can infuse a time where you aren’t in charge. Where you are leaning on someone or something else for support. If you have a mate, just ask them to hold you for 5 minutes! It’s great! And if you don’t have a mate, try a tree…Washington is full of them!
One of the great spiritual icons of the United Methodist church is John and Charles Wesley’s mother, Susanna. She raised a slew of kids and at a point when she had had enough, she would throw her apron over her head, and that was the signal for the kids to leave mom alone. And for 5 or even 10 minutes she found rest under that apron. That, my friends, is Sabbath!
I hope this has helped. I know it has helped me. Sometimes I find that writing about something moves me into practicing something. I think I’ll go take a nap under out big cedar tree out in the back yard!
Your friend and pastor, still trying to take the log out of my own eye, Brook