"Who is it that can make muddy water clear? But if allowed to remain still, it will gradually become clear of itself."
Tao Te Ching

How often it feels as though we are flailing away at life, pressing, pushing, yet there is no completion. We chastise ourselves for not being bright enough, or strong enough, or persistent enough and then we drop our shoulders and, once again, attack the work that must be done with the same result. We feel hollow, unfulfilled. Yet we have been given the remedy, "He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul."

Sometimes it seems that we have made progress. We acknowledge the need for the spiritual disciplines (prayer, mediation, sacraments, fasting, reading, silence, study, and pilgrimage) to be part of our lives. We wish that there were time to participate in them, but we are so busy! We have come to accept that spiritual growth is a gift of grace, but that it requires our participation. There is guilt because of our awareness that we must be actors in our quest for spiritual growth, but we have yet to take the stage.

Abraham Joshua Heschel writes that the first time the word qadosh, "holy," is found in the Hebrew Scriptures, it did not refer to the earth, animals, not even to humankind. The first time anything is called qadosh is in the book of Genesis at the end of the story of creation. "And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy." (1) Sabbath is qadosh!

What images come to mind when our thoughts turn to the idea of Sabbath? In our technical, space-oriented world the idea of a time without some accomplishment or activity is not easy to conceive. Heschel describes Sabbath by saying, "There's a realm of time where the goal is not to have but to be, not to own but to give, not to control but to share, not to subdue but to be in accord." (2)

My personal understanding of Sabbath was that it was a time to rest and recharge the batteries so that there will be more energy and drive available to accomplish the work. I was wrong. Wayne Muller speaks of the Sabbath as having its own life when he says, "Sabbath is more than the absence of work; it is not just a day off, when we catch up on television or errands. It is the presence of something that arises when we consecrate a period of time to listen to what is most deeply beautiful, nourishing, or true." (3) Heschel agrees, writing, "The Sabbath as a day of rest, as a day of obtaining from toil, is not for the purpose of recovering one's lost strength and becoming fit for the forthcoming labor. The Sabbath is a day for the sake of life." (4)

So then what is Sabbath? Is it just one more thing that we ought to do when we already have insufficient time for the work expected of us? Some might understand it that way. We have found ourselves to be unsuccessful as things are, yet we know of no other approach. So we struggle on, hoping beyond rationality that if we do what we have already done, somehow this time the result will be different.

What we discover as we learn of Sabbath is that it is, according to Heschel, "Spirit in the form of time. With our bodies we belong to space; our spirit, our souls, soar to eternity, aspire to the holy. The Sabbath is an ascent to the summit." (5) This "sanctuary in time" contains within it a secret that provides an opportunity for a radical departure from the busy-ness of life. It offers the chance to create our own "wilderness" so that we can struggle with how to give ourselves totally in obedience to the Creator. It provides a holy time for us to come into the presence of God through the many spiritual disciplines that have been left largely unpracticed for lack of time. It is the perfect gift of time for those who have no time! Because it exists in time, we are able to draw into Sabbath the spiritual practices for which there had been no time.

How could we just stop and have Sabbath? We have great and important tasks to accomplish. If we take time for Sabbath, who will do the work? Muller reminds us that, "Jesus would just as often send people away, or disappear without warning, dismissing those in need with neither excuse or explanation, and retreat to place of rest… He did not ask permission to go, nor did he leave anyone behind 'on-call.'" (6) Is our work more important than his?

There is a guilt associated with taking time for ourselves when so many others depend on us. We should recall what Elizabeth O'Connor had to say in her book, Journey Inward, Journey Outward, when she describes the three engagements on the inward journey. First there is the engagement with oneself, then the engagement with God, and third, the engagement with others. How is it that a component of the journey inward is the engagement of others? This is the answer to our concern that, in Sabbath, we are taking away something when we ought to be giving. It is the recognition that we must become more aware and sensitive to the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives so that we can help others clarify their understanding and recognition of the work of the Holy Spirit in their lives. We are not becoming absent to the rest of creation, we are coming into rhythm with it.

Jim Wallis says that, "The principal cause of the church's accommodation to the values and spirit of our age is the fragmentation of our common life. We are easy prey, because we are rootless and confused." (7) Sabbath provides the opportunity for roots to take hold. Muller tells us, "Thus, Sabbath is not only for ourselves; rested and refreshed, we more generously serve all those who need our care." (8) Thomas R. Kelly, in the book, A Testament of Devotion, describes the need to bring life events into the light so that we might see them anew. He writes, "For the religious man is forever bringing all affairs of the first level down into the Light, holding them there in the Presence, reseeing them and the whole of the world of men and things in a new and overturning way, and responding to them in spontaneous, incisive, and simple ways of love and faith." (9) Sabbath keeping isn't just about the keeper. It has powerful implications for the communities in which that person is a member.

There is a demand for Sabbath in our souls and in our bodies. Our failure to acknowledge and satisfy the requirement of Sabbath time can have serious consequences. "If we do not allow for a rhythm of rest in our overly busy lives, illness becomes our Sabbath - our pneumonia, our cancer, our heart attack, our accidents create Sabbath for us." (10) Certainly, it would be better for us to enter into Sabbath rather than having it forced upon us. As Kelly writes, "Don't grit your teeth and clench your fists and say 'I will! I will!' Relax. Take your hands off. Submit yourself to God." (11) It is both ironic and sad that only when we get to the end of our work (which never comes) will we give ourselves permission to lie down in green pastures, be led besides still waters, and allow our soul to be restored. Although it ought to be a Psalm of life, it is the Psalm we recite when someone has died.

The kinds of things that allow change to happen during the Sabbath time are varied, but all have a common purpose. "The Sabbath is a patch of ground secured by a tiny fence where we withdraw from the endless choices afforded us and listen, uncover what is ultimately important, and can remember what is quietly sacred." (12)

Sabbath time is time filled with prayer in all its forms. One of the best places to begin is with the Psalms. Dietrich Bonhoeffer offers his understanding of the value of the Psalms in Life Together. He writes, "The Psalter is the great school of prayer. First, we learn here what prayer means: it means praying on the basis of the Word of God, on the basis of promises…Second, we learn from the prayer of the Psalms what we should pray…Third, the prayer of the Psalms teaches us to pray as community." (13) Meditation, contemplative prayer, intercessory prayer, and lectio divina all have part in the symphony of Sabbath.

We should not, however, mistake prayer for a passive activity. Douglas V. Steere, in Dimensions of Prayer, makes it clear that, "Prayer is a threat to the continued enthronement of our egocentric goals." (14) Further he advises us, "There is an ethical sharpening that takes place in real Christian prayer that is highly dangerous to any complacency concerning the order of things as they are." (15) Perhaps the greatest value of Sabbath is that it gives us permission to stop what we are doing and come into the Presence through prayer. We are changed when that occurs and when Sabbath time has concluded, we see more clearly the value of our community and the value of our brothers and sisters. Priorities tend to change and we begin to understand that, as Wallis says, "We are a people seduced by a way of thinking, a way of living, that is irreconcilable with the lordship of Christ." (16) We become fully awake to the fact that such seduction can not be allowed to continue.

One of the pre-conceptions I carried regarding Sabbath was that it was time alone, away from both people and things. I thought it was something like our own "Fortress of Solitude." Certainly there is an aspect of that during Sabbath time. All of us need time alone with ourselves and with God. We desperately need to listen for God in those times of quiet and Sabbath is the opportunity. Sabbath is a time of joy, not because of what we are doing, but rather because it is a time of being. Sabbath is a sensuous time. A time of all the senses. It is also a time of sharing. To simply be with others whom we love is also within the sanctuary of Sabbath.

Kelly writes of the "Beloved Community." There is, he says, within the larger group, some number that have a special "nearness" to us. These, whom we recognize as our special gift ought to be included in our Sabbath. It may not be possible for all to gather each time, but there is no requirement for that to occur. At times Sabbath might be alone, or with one with whom we are partnered. At other times the Beloved Community might gather together for Sabbath.

There is no reason to try to establish limits or expectations on Sabbath. It is not within our control anyway! Sabbath is time, not place, and as Heschel remarks, although space is exposed to our will, "time, however, is beyond our reach, beyond our power." (17) Because Sabbath is time, we can achieve a unique relationship to both God and humankind that cannot exist in space. Time is mysterious to us, yet it exists over all other aspects of our lives. Heschel writes of the possibilities of relationship in time by saying that, "this very moment belongs to all living man as it belongs to me. We share time, we own space. Through my ownership of space, I am a rival of all other beings; through my living in time, I am a contemporary of all other beings." (18)

There is another aspect of Sabbath that is surprising. It is understandable that Sabbath, because we are changed by it, will have an affect on the people we touch after the experience. There is, however a component of evangelism in the practice of Sabbath that can easily be missed.

Evangelism is, after all, about who we are and it is sustained by the same spiritual disciplines we practice in Sabbath keeping. In Sabbath Time, Tilden Edwards writes, "Thus observance of the Sabbath has an evangelical dimension. What better way to reveal God's love beyond our works than to stop our usual works and discover that Love is not withdrawn, but strongly visible for us? Not only us is this a witness for ourselves, but also for others as they see us intentionally celebrating an identity and love that is not dependent on our worthy productions." (19) What greater witness than to show the radical perspective that we trust God so much, that we honor the promises made to us, we no longer feel the need to work for salvation. We are free to "be."

Sabbath is a way that we can find time to do what we have wanted to do all along. Sabbath requires that we stop, not because we are done, but precisely because we will never be done. As Muller puts it, "When we breathe, we do not stop inhaling because we have taken in all the oxygen we will ever need, but because we have all the oxygen we need for this breath. Sabbath, like the breath, allows us to imagine we have done enough work for this day." (20) It is the framework that provides us with the wherewithal to attend to the work without allowing the work to possess us.

Exploring Sabbath can be a freeing experience. We come to understand that we are not always required. There are times that someone else or nothing at all can be in control and our absence will be imperceptible. The universe will continue even during those moments when we are not directing it. Sabbath gives us the chance to reconnect with the rhythms that exist in our lives. Edwards summarizes the nature and value of Sabbath when he writes, "A rhythm of Sabbath and ministry time is the foundational discipline, a framework for all our disciplines. It is a rhythm the God provides the human life for its care, cleansing, and opening to grace." (21)

Sabbath is a matter of time, holy time, that envelops all our activities. It may be a day, or just a few hours. It can even be a momentary prayer. Time, though, is the key to understanding Sabbath. It is not easy for us, because we are people of space, tied closely to things. Sabbath requires a different perspective, a new paradigm. Muller writes, "Sabbath time is set apart for remembering the holiness of life. Time is the key. Time and attention. If we grab a sandwich as we run out of the door, this is eating. If we take a small crust of bread and a sip of wine, in a mindful gathering of other beings, this is a sacrament. It is neither the food nor the eating but the time and the mindfulness that reveal what is holy." (22) Why would we want to continue eating the sandwich when the sacrament is offered?

Remember the Sabbath Day, to keep it holy. Exodus 20:8

End Notes:

1 Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (New York: Harper Collins, 1951 33rd printing 2001), 9.

2 Ibid., 3.

3 Wayne Muller, Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal, and Delight In Our Busy Lives (New York: Bantam Books, 1999), 8.

4 Heschel, 14.

5 Ibid., 75.

6 Muller, 24

7 Jim Wallis, Call to Conversion: Rediscovering the Gospel for These Times (Rev. ed. New York: Harper Collins, 1981), 116

8 Muller, 11.

9 Thomas R. Kelly, A Testament of Devotion (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1941 rpt. New York: Harper Collins, 1992), 10.

10 Muller, 20.

11 Kelly, 34.

12 Muller, 143.

13 Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible. (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996) 55.

14 Douglas V. Steere, Dimensions of Prayer: Cultivating a Relationship with God (Rev. ed. Nashville: Upper Room, 1997), 44.

15 Ibid., 91.

16 Wallis, 117.

17 Heschel, 99.

18 Ibid., 99.

19 Tilden Edwards, Sabbath Time (Nashville: Upper Room Books, 1992), 91.

20 Muller, 83.

21 Edwards, 148.

22 Muller, 196.

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