Monday, March 15

Scripture for the Week: Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done. – Genesis 2:1-3
Reflection – Paula Hanson

When Kate first mentioned the idea of Sabbath keeping, I pretty much tuned out – it seemed to be one of those ideas that could work for others but not for me. Yes, I know there are people who keep the Sabbath, but “Sabbath keeping in Fairfield County” seems like an oxymoron. Take a day to rest every week? You’re kidding, right?

As I started to look at Sabbath keeping, though, I was impressed with the long tradition of people who have kept it. For the spiritual descendants of Abraham – Jews, Christians, Muslims – time flows in seven-day cycles, and there is always a day to rest and reflect and worship. The lives of these peoples have not been simple or easy, and yet many of them have kept the Sabbath. Sometimes they had to really fight for it, for example, when anti-Christian leaders tried to weaken religious traditions by abolishing the seven-day week during the French Revolution. But the people valued the Sabbath idea enough to resist that change.

Why did our ancestors think that Sabbath keeping was so wonderful? For them, the Sabbath was not meant to be a day of relaxing, really, but rather a day to spend time thinking, meditating, praying, and worshipping. So it was intended to be productive time that produced “results” – guidance, security, peace, hope and other gifts from God. And I think that God offers us these gifts, and this experience, even today. As with many elements of the Christian life, we just have to choose to say “yes” to it – to stop doing and start being – and then see where it can take us.