My relationship with Sabbath has evolved over time. As a college student trying to graduate early while juggling a part-time job and a leadership role in my student fellowship group, I had clear rules for my Sabbath: no work, no studying. My Sunday followed a pretty set routine of church, followed by lunch at the best bagel place in town, and a leisurely afternoon reading or going for a walk before sharing dinner and prayer with my housemates.
In my twenties, my Sabbath rest began to include reading the Washington Post from cover to cover while watching football. When I was living in Haiti, my church met in a pub not far from the best grocery store in Port-au-Prince, so my Sunday “rest” frequently included a leisurely stroll through the aisles, stocking up on all of the delights that couldn’t be purchased in my neighborhood street market. These days, my idea of rest frequently involves baking or cooking, or tending to the plants on my little balcony, or going for a long bike ride if the weather is nice. Sometimes I skip church because puttering around my apartment feels more restful. When I am run down, Sabbath may entail an afternoon nap on my couch. None of these activities feels “holy” in the traditional sense.
I’d like to think that in some way, this is what Jesus is arguing for when he talks to the Pharisees about the sabbath.* “Sabbath” doesn’t have to mean meditating, or praying, or studying scripture, or any one thing at all. The rest that God calls us to means getting what you need, doing what brings you deep peace, pursuing good. No one else gets to decide what your Sabbath is. Though certainly some of my Sabbath ideas have been misguided (watching Washington football rarely brought me deep peace), I’ve learned over time that being alone and doing something I enjoy better prepares my heart to love and serve others during the chaos of the workweek than any “traditional” sabbath ever could.
What do you need on your Sabbath? How can Jesus meet you there, protecting you against the voices that question you?
-- Erica Lloyd, Seekers Church
For More...
I started reading Tricia Hersey’s thought-provoking little book recently after discovering her “Nap Ministry” account on social media. Hersey proclaims that rest is a radical and an essential “No” to the forces of capitalism, white supremacy, ableism, and patriarchy that seek to dehumanize us – forces that tell us our worth is in what we achieve rather than in our identity as beloved creatures of God.
“There is no such thing as cookie-cutter healing. Everyone brings with them an origin story, a history, and identities that are interconnected. There is room to rest in the freedom of managing your own deprogramming journey…. Our work is to slowly and deeply cultivate an expansive inner knowing that trusts our intuition and views rest as a physical and psychological disruption.”
― Tricia Hersey, Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto
