First Posted 08-Sep-2014
We don’t have to. We can, and some do, run 24/7/365, until we crash and burn, then go at it again. I married someone who lives this way. My son started his college life this way and collapsed because he couldn’t keep up the pace in the manic phase. Life has a rhythm. It, as in music, is marked by the silences, the rests, as much as it is by the melodies and harmonies. A good musician plays the rests.
I’m not a trained theologian or philosopher. I have an undergraduate degree in English Literature. I have this blog, the extent of my professional writing experience. I’m about a third of the way through my third year repeating a one year reading plan to read the entire Bible. I am educated in Sunday School by a Presbyterian Church of one sort of another most of my life. With those credentials, humble as they are, I want to offer that rest, Sabbath and Jubilee, have a place in our lives.
I don’t always keep the Sabbath as I should. But, as best I can, on Friday at 6pm, I try to shut down my life. I try to stay shut down until some time Saturday afternoon, often around 3pm or so. Things I’m ok doing involve anything fun or entertaining. Everything else, especially anything that feels like work, is not ok. Driving in service of something fun or entertaining is ok, though it walks the line between fun and work for me.
I find I need my Friday’s off. Things sometimes hit an emotional peak on Friday afternoon and the best thing for this Wagnerian battle scene sung by Amazonian Altos and larger than life baritones is some down time. So, I break out the tablet for some quality time with Netflix. Sabbath and Jubilee are the rests, the moments of silence, that punctuate the melody of life. They help me hear God in the melodies so that during the rest of the week I can be salt and light to those around me. It’s Sunday. Nascar is racing at Pocono. Tiger’s back hurts bad enough that he left the golf tournament. There are pork rinds to eat and Diet Mountain Dew to drink. Enjoy the rest of your day.