G
goforgoal
Guest
Exercise: Making Sabbath
For theological and spiritual, as well as for health and physical reasons, it is in our own best interests to “make Sabbath.” Sabbath time is ot be viewed as a joy, as a celebration and great pleasure. It is not to be endured as an obligation. We need to learn how to tithe our time.
How?
We need to plan our Sabbath time.
1. Mark off your calendar one day a week or one morning and one afternoon, or two afternoons as your weekly “Sabbath time.”
-During the year (two or three times) mark off a weekend as a more extended Sabbath time.
-You might have to make a choice to “violate Sabbath” by accepting unexpected pressing tasks but at least you’ve set before yourself the importance of Sabbath time even if you can’t always accept it; you have acknowledged the need to redeem some time, to, “save time to nurture your inner life and your relationship with God.”
*** The point is that if you are going to have Sabbath time, you are going to have to be intentional about it, to “structure the opportunity.” It won’t happen unless you plan it, just as our tithe doesn’t happen unless you set it aside first before you pay the bills.**
2. Take “minute vacations.” Pause in the midst of work to remind yourself of God’s presence and to be refreshed. How you do that is up to you. “Minute vacations” can be the appetizer that leads to a desire for full Sabbath “meals.”
3. Once we are able to set a day aside, what do we do with our time? A Sabbath day is a microcosm of the whole life, all that is really “required of is that we be attentive to and in the presence of God.”
-So something that has to do with the reckoning of time itself. TAKE OFF YOUR WRIST WATCHES!
Re-attune yourself to the rhythms of the natural world and to your own body. Let the time fill naturally…Sabbath time probably ought to be unscheduled times when we are not following a carefully planned itinerary based on the arbitrary hands of our watched and clocks.
4. Sabbath time is a time of rest, not work. The Sabbath is a day for the sake of life.
“To act as if the world cannot get along without our work for one day in seven is a startling display of pride that denies the sufficiency of our generous Maker.” Using Sabbath time “as a preparation for something else, even for something good, is but another inadequate motive that will prevent full resting in the Lord.”
Sabbath time might include: time outside, walking, enjoying the natural world, time for sleep, solitude, prayer and worship, reading, listening to music, family time, preparation of special meals, visiting…Simply letting go (external stage) and putting aside the normal routines and work. Simply letting be (internal stage)
…a little more difficult…to be more alert and focused in Sabbath.
How you find Sabbath time and fill it will be highly individual. Here are some questions that may help you think about how you can make “Sabbath.”
1. How can I “find” time for Sabbath? What odds and ends of time might be used for Sabbath focus?
-Does my work situation allow me some time off?
-Can I begin immediately to take “minute vacations”?
2. What sort of activities might be appropriate for Sabbath time?
-What things do I do that put me in touch with God?
-What things distance me from the Divine dimension of life?
-What gives me energy? Drains me?
-What are my spiritual and physical needs? How are they related to openness to God?
*Remember you can answer these questions privately to yourself
For theological and spiritual, as well as for health and physical reasons, it is in our own best interests to “make Sabbath.” Sabbath time is ot be viewed as a joy, as a celebration and great pleasure. It is not to be endured as an obligation. We need to learn how to tithe our time.
How?
We need to plan our Sabbath time.
1. Mark off your calendar one day a week or one morning and one afternoon, or two afternoons as your weekly “Sabbath time.”
-During the year (two or three times) mark off a weekend as a more extended Sabbath time.
-You might have to make a choice to “violate Sabbath” by accepting unexpected pressing tasks but at least you’ve set before yourself the importance of Sabbath time even if you can’t always accept it; you have acknowledged the need to redeem some time, to, “save time to nurture your inner life and your relationship with God.”
*** The point is that if you are going to have Sabbath time, you are going to have to be intentional about it, to “structure the opportunity.” It won’t happen unless you plan it, just as our tithe doesn’t happen unless you set it aside first before you pay the bills.**
2. Take “minute vacations.” Pause in the midst of work to remind yourself of God’s presence and to be refreshed. How you do that is up to you. “Minute vacations” can be the appetizer that leads to a desire for full Sabbath “meals.”
3. Once we are able to set a day aside, what do we do with our time? A Sabbath day is a microcosm of the whole life, all that is really “required of is that we be attentive to and in the presence of God.”
-So something that has to do with the reckoning of time itself. TAKE OFF YOUR WRIST WATCHES!
Re-attune yourself to the rhythms of the natural world and to your own body. Let the time fill naturally…Sabbath time probably ought to be unscheduled times when we are not following a carefully planned itinerary based on the arbitrary hands of our watched and clocks.
4. Sabbath time is a time of rest, not work. The Sabbath is a day for the sake of life.
“To act as if the world cannot get along without our work for one day in seven is a startling display of pride that denies the sufficiency of our generous Maker.” Using Sabbath time “as a preparation for something else, even for something good, is but another inadequate motive that will prevent full resting in the Lord.”
Sabbath time might include: time outside, walking, enjoying the natural world, time for sleep, solitude, prayer and worship, reading, listening to music, family time, preparation of special meals, visiting…Simply letting go (external stage) and putting aside the normal routines and work. Simply letting be (internal stage)
…a little more difficult…to be more alert and focused in Sabbath.
How you find Sabbath time and fill it will be highly individual. Here are some questions that may help you think about how you can make “Sabbath.”
1. How can I “find” time for Sabbath? What odds and ends of time might be used for Sabbath focus?
-Does my work situation allow me some time off?
-Can I begin immediately to take “minute vacations”?
2. What sort of activities might be appropriate for Sabbath time?
-What things do I do that put me in touch with God?
-What things distance me from the Divine dimension of life?
-What gives me energy? Drains me?
-What are my spiritual and physical needs? How are they related to openness to God?
*Remember you can answer these questions privately to yourself