And On the Seventh Day...

This morning while on the treadmill I listened to the latest episode of my favorite podcast, That Sounds Fun.  The podcast, hosted by Christian author and speaker Annie F. Downs, is equal parts hilarious and thought provoking and new episodes are released almost every Thursday.  Today’s episode was an interview with pastor and author John Mark Comer on the practice of Sabbath.  I’ll be honest, I am not very good at making this a habit in my life, especially now that my job is not 9-5, Monday through Friday (not that teaching was…#grading).  It’s not that I wasn’t warned about this when I went into ministry.  Sabbath was a major topic of discussion in our “Fit to Lead” workshop on spiritual and physical health during my new hire training at the National Support Center back in October.  We then talked about it again at our annual regional conference in November.  Furthermore, my director reminds us all of the time that we should be taking a day away from the ministry each month to be refreshed in addition to our normal weekly Sabbath. 

So why don’t I do it?  Call it stubbornness, lack of planning, failure to prioritize…all of the above!  When we don’t have weekend events on the calendar for FCA, like we do for the next three weekends, I tend to spend my days off doing laundry, cleaning, or running errands.  Something tells me that Costco on a weekend is not exactly what the Lord had in mind when he set the precedent for observing the Sabbath in Genesis 2.    

Annie and John Mark spent the first part of the podcast episode discussing the frantic, digitally-enhanced pace of our lives these days and Annie observed, “It is not just the Church that is looking for this rest.  It is humans looking for this rest and the Church has an age-old response.”   They noted the trends of yoga, meditation, and mindfulness in Western culture as proof that all of us are feeling burnt out from too much hurry in our lives.  The question is not whether Sabbath is necessary and beneficial for us, but how do we make this part of our lives?

John Mark shared that while he and his family will cook and share meals together while they’re practicing Sabbath (Saturday for them, since he is a pastor), they won’t do dishes, as that is a form of work for them.  So by the end of the day Saturday, the sink is piled full of dirty dishes.  I can’t lie…this made me cringe a bit.  I know Sabbath can look different for different personality types and people in different stages of life (introverts might stay in and read while an extrovert might meet a close friend for coffee), but if the idea of a sink full of dirty dishes stresses me out, does that mean I can do the dishes when I’m practicing Sabbath?  Or does that actually speak to my control issues?  I’m going to have to mull that one over…

I know that Sabbath is important – for my mental, physical, and spiritual well-being.  So what would it look like for me to carve out a day each week to do things that truly give me rest?  As with most of us who live in Northern VA, I let busyness rule my life sometimes.  Well, most of the time.  Like Annie and John Mark mentioned in the podcast, I would have to be intentional about taking care of some things in advance, like laundry and grocery shopping.  And not checking email during the day…that would definitely require some self-control.  TV tends to be a go to sometimes when I’m feeling overwhelmed and just want to zone-out, but if I’m truly honest, I don’t think I could qualify the shows I watch life-giving, even if I tend to avoid some of the trashier stuff out there these days.  The point is not to be legalistic about it.  But at the same time, if I’m going to truly reap the benefits that come from setting a day aside to rest, I do have to set boundaries for myself.

I don’t have it figured out by any means.  I know there is grace in this process and that my Sabbath may not look the same as yours.  Let’s face it, for some of you, even intentionally trying to set a day aside each week for your family to rest will still involve wiping little bottoms.  Like the Day/Nyquil commercials say, parents don’t get days off.  But I encourage you to listen to this podcast (iTunes, Spotify, Podcast Addict) as well, though, and if you don’t already incorporate this practice in your life consistently, let’s both start taking steps to make that a priority.