Friday, March 5

Reflection

I am a Sabbath-keeper drop out.

A couple of years ago I stumbled upon a book about Sabbath on the new book shelf at the Turn of River Library. I had never considered keeping a Sabbath but I checked out the book and read it anyway.

The book made sense to me both psychologically and spiritually. Who doesn’t need rest and renewal? Who couldn’t use more time turned toward God?

I resolved to try to keep Sabbath on Sundays. But first I had to define what that would mean for me. The author of the library book suggested an incremental approach to getting started. That seemed like the only possible way for me to start. I determined first of all that I would not engage in any commercial or financial activities on Sundays. No more grocery shopping on Sunday afternoon. Not even stopping for a quart of milk on the way home from church. No sessions of paying bills and balancing the checkbook. I would even write the check for my pledge on Saturday evening. Then I added laundry to my prohibited activities. For years at our house the dryer had buzzed signaling that a load of clothes was dry just as we were sitting down to Sunday dinner. No more. Then I added obsessively checking news websites. This is something that I should seriously give up every day – I thought I could manage it one day a week.

The giving things up turned out to be easier than finding things to do on my Sabbath. I went to church, of course. In the afternoon I read – sometimes even spiritual or religious books. I wrote in my journal. And I napped. Time dragged. I was not rested or refreshed. My spirit was dulled and I was not turned toward God. Somewhat paradoxically, I found that I needed a Sabbath project and a plan for what I would do when I was doing nothing. Gradually, keeping Sabbath slipped away. A distaste for shopping or paying bills on Sunday lingers. And whenever I can manage it, laundry is done on other days. The dryer buzzer no longer disturbs our Sunday dinner. Checking news websites? Well, Sunday is a slow news day and there’s not much point, is there?

Lent seems like a good time to try Sabbath keeping again. This time, however, I know that I need to think about what I will do on my Sabbath as much as I think about what I will not do.