Sabbath-keeping is decidedly counter-cultural, even in non-pandemic times. Just because our society is not friendly to Sabbath-keeping does not exempt us from keeping the Sabbath. And it surely does not erase our need for Sabbath. “Sabbath is a gift,” noted preacher and author Barbara Brown Taylor. “But we are so reluctant to accept it, that God had to make it a commandment.”
Keeping Sabbath is more than just setting aside one day each week. It’s a way of living. “A Sabbath heart is restful even in the midst of unrest and upheaval. It is attentive to the presence of God and others even in the welter of much coming and going, rising and falling. It is still and knows God even when mountains fall into the sea.” So writes author Mark Buchanan in his book The Rest of God: Restoring Your Soul by Restoring Sabbath.
We’ve got bucket loads of unrest and upheaval in our lives right now. The pandemic. Systemic racism. Climate change. Lost jobs and closing businesses. Domestic terrorism. The list goes on. I can’t help but think that, with a Sabbath heart, we could better face this unrest and upheaval and better love ourselves and our neighbors.
This message is an excerpt from a Women of the ELCA blog by Linda Post Bushkofsky. Today is the 10th Sunday after Pentecost.
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