Sabbath as Divine Interruption: It's a gift!

I felt guilty sitting in my dorm room and 'missing' Wednesday Chapel.  And due to feeling guilty or shameful, I know that I could never have been using that time well... nor the time after Chapel had ended.  Guilt can become an ugly fog that misdirects your heart and life for hours!  Who noticed my absence?  But, why was I so focused on what others might think?

It took years to learn that real faith was liberating - freeing.  And, that the mix of rules and procedures had trapped me in a very shallow, and perhaps meaningless place.  

Sabbath?  Of course this type of word became a turnoff!  One more thing I was doing wrong somehow.  Why would anyone want to join a community of faith? 

One day, a campus pastor caught my brain and heart on the actual meaning and gift of Sabbath.  "In the Old Testament, you could farm your field for 6 years, then you need to let it rest for that next year - it needs time to recover after so many years of producing food for you."  Maybe you can already tell where this is going... You and I weren't designed to simply keep going!  We lose so much of who we are, and our own vital gifts go stale, when we don't have time to stop and reflect on who and what we are. 

How to describe this idea of Sabbath.  It's similar to having a good conversation, then noticing that the last 15 minutes often become more genuine, truthful, intimate... real perhaps.  When the conversation is ending, perhaps we feel safe, and tell something that is close to our heart that moment.  Also, I often feel different after being with someone in a hospital, where the conversation starts out at a bit deeper level and our fears are much harder to hide.  It is humbling to be allowed into these conversations, and realize how my previous agenda, and even worries, are gone.  I then feel in touch with much more of God's total creation.  I notice things that were invisible the hour before.

Just this one word - Sabbath - has changed me in many ways.  For at least one day each week, what would you be like with a real Sabbath under your belt.  More confident?  Able to embody peace?  Be a deeper human with growing wisdom?  Be able to truly listen to others and hear even more than the words alone can communicate? 

There are many surprises in store for those who can let go of the early understandings of faith that still guide many of us, and enjoy instead being curious, playful, open to the larger gifts of being on a journey towards a richer faith.  The surprises are liberating! 

You may have something to add in the comments below - I welcome the colors you will add!    Shalom, pastor ken