Sabbath Check-In

Happy Monday Edgemont! In our email two weeks ago, I challenged each of us to pick a day of the week that was going to be our Sabbath day. Then, on that day, to pay special attention to our activities and try and find the things that were restorative for us. Today, I am checking-in to see how it is going. How have you been able to take time and give yourself rest? Have you found any new activities that have been beneficial to you? If you haven’t, that’s okay! That’s part of why this challenge is an experiment. Not everything that works for one person will work for another. God has given us all different gifts and graces and that is equally true for how we can experience sabbath rest. Some of us experience Sabbath when we write, are creative, cook, exercise, meditate, read, or pretty much any activity you can think of. Not all of us will resonate with each one of those, but all of us can resonate with at least one. I love the imagery presented by Psalm 23, verse 2-3a, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he restores my soul.” To me, a sabbath rest practice is something that can restore our soul. Sometimes, that practice may leave us physically tired but our soul is at rest. For instance, this past weekend, I was able to spend some time hiking with a friend at Joe Wheeler State Park. By the time we finished, I was physically exhausted; but I was calm and my soul had been stirred by the beauty of nature and the meaningful conversations we had over three hours. This was the first time I had been hiking in quite a while. Far too often, I have been unwilling to commit the amount of time for a good hiking experience. I am incredibly grateful that I did. This is going to be something I incorporate more regularly. As difficult of a time as this has been for us, it also comes with opportunity. For many of us, our patterns have been disrupted, which is difficult. Yet, when something is removed, there is also the chance to put something new in its place. I’ve always been a fan of testing spaghetti when cooking it by throwing it against a wall to see if it sticks (okay, not really anymore, but I like the image); I think our sabbath practices can be like that. Sometimes we have to try something and just see if it sticks. Not all of us are journalers or artists or bakers; but some of us definitely have a spiritual reservoir that we are not aware of. Church, this is the perfect time to give the Holy Spirit a chance to show us a new way to restore our soul. When we have our souls restored, we are further prepared to do the good work of the Kingdom, sharing Christ’s love with the world. May we continue to let God lead us in the ways that can revive and refresh us. Pastor Henry