Friday, March 12

Reflection – Kate Heichler

Life Unplugged - What Happens When We Stop?

Friday is my Sabbath – when, that is, I manage to honor the day that has been given to me.

It is a challenge to take a day of non-productivity in our society – so many things conspire to trip you up. The mad dash to get things done by the night before that can be exhausting.

And then there’s the question of what to do, and what not to do.

I find that loneliness can be a big obstacle to Sabbath-keeping. It is generally a good idea not to turn on a computer or check email on the Sabbath – it too quickly leads us into our work/ productivity mode. But for many of us computers are also how we keep in touch with our social networks, through email, Facebook, checking links, reading news online. As a person who is single, I feel quite attached to the connectivity I experience through my computer.

And yet, the laptop is also where I work. And I seem unable to read and respond to some emails, and not to others. So there are a few things I’m trying–

1. to set up some social activity for the day set aside as my Sabbath, so I know there will be some human connection, and not just feline. Then maybe I can forego checking email for a day.

2. to use the discomfort of feeling “disconnected “to allow some feelings to float up that my incessant connectedness can distract me from.

3. and then to let that discomfort lead me into prayer, to open myself to the one essential connection in my life that is eternal, and could be most life-giving.

That is part of the wisdom of Sabbath – like fields that lie fallow, like trees that take on nutrients for new growth during their season of wintry bareness, we need to disconnect a little and live with more space and time than we’re used to, in order to be receptive to the nutrients God has for us.

Once, during a prayer time, I sensed Jesus saying, “Come, every day. Let me water your roots every day.” That’s what can happen in the unpluggedness of Sabbath – we can allow our spirits to be replenished by the Living Water; our thirsty souls revived.