Deep Rest, Deep Renewal

As you read these words today, I am preparing to get away on Sabbath.  Sabbath is a biblical discipline that goes all the way back to creation. The Almighty and Everlasting God worked for six days creating the heavens and earth, the moon and stars, the animals, and humankind itself.  And then God rested.  We, as God’s creation, used to do the same.  As a child I remember being on the farm with my grandparents all summer long and Sundays were different.  We didn’t work around the house on Sunday.  Cows were milked but we didn’t hoe the fields or plant or even harvest on that day.  Great grandma, a Romanian Orthodox Christian, held fast to her Sabbath rules and did not even allow my grandmother to cook on Sundays.  Food was prepared on Saturday and simply warmed up and served on Sunday. 

Instead of working, we would just be together.  Aunts and uncles would come by, cousins would show up, and we would just be together.  No one shopped and no one had any sports practice, let alone games or tournaments.  It seemed the whole world, sacred and secular, abided by these rules whether spoken or unspoken.  Liquor was not sold on Sundays and most all businesses were closed. 

Then somewhere along the way, nearing my highschool years, I believe, it all changed.  A store would hang a banner announcing it would be open on Sundays and lo and behold, people came.  Great grandma had died and gone on to live in Sabbath forever with her Savior so it seemed to the rest of us, and the world I suppose, that Sabbath was no longer needed here on earth… at least in my community.  So we began cooking on Sunday and mom would ask us to clean our rooms.  The laundry had piled high so we would toss in a few loads “just to catch up.”  Garages needing reorganizing and floors needed mopped, so we did what we “needed” to in order to get life back in order before heading back to work on Monday.  And then the sports world showed up on our doorsteps… It seems six days a week wasn’t enough to entertain ourselves and performance in sports bled over into Sundays, as well.  Professional games filled the airwaves and local sports demanded we drive our kids to practice and now, even games and tournaments on Sundays. 

And somewhere along the way, we all stopped resting.  We moved from Sunday to Monday to Tuesday and right back through Saturday and Sunday again as we work ourselves into our graves and falsely believe rest comes in our overnight sleep or through our many varied personal entertainment sources.  We’re as tired on Monday mornings as we are on Friday evenings and we perpetuate exhaustion in our relationships, our professions, and our homes, in addition to our inner spirits and souls.  Our bodies can’t keep up so we take anti-anxiety and depression meds to fill the gaps.  Our children take them too.  I’m exhausted just thinking about it all. 

So now, today, here where I type, I am on Sabbath.  Every year I take a week to rest, to re-center, recharge and renew everything that I have exhausted the twelve months prior.  I do my best not to talk, and I fast from most foods.  I drink lots of liquids to wash out my inners and eat a few fruit when I can’t stand the hunger.  But mostly I just rest.  I rest my mind and I rest my body.  I sleep until I wake and I take naps when I feel led.  I talk with God a ton, because I actually have time to.  I read whatever beckons my attention and as an artist, I typically create during my Sabbath. I paint or bead or weave... Creating nourishes my inner being and brings joy into my rest.  No matter what I choose to do, I can tell you this: I don’t work.  I don’t cook or clean or do any chores. They can wait.  I figure if God, the Almighty Omnipotent God, needs rest, then surely do I.