Jubilee: Keeping a Sabbath

Sabbath.  Keep a Sabbath.  Keep it holy.

I have never done this.  Sundays have always been a time to go to church for me, but then they would turn into work days, days of dealing with housework or home repair or whatever.   My friend Jessica in Ghana taught me that the Sabbath is more than this and that I should try to find a way to incorporate it into my year of total health and from there into the rest of my life.

The seventh day is blessed in more than 73 places in scripture, so I’m not really going to launch into a full study of those.  In both Isaiah and in Leviticus we learn about the year of Jubilee – after six days of work you take a seventh day of Sabbath,  after 6 years of work, you take a seventh year of Sabbath, after 49 years of work, you take a 50^th year of Sabbath when all captives are set free, and all debts are forgiven.  The Israelites never fulfilled this year of Jubilee – the 50^th year.  They just couldn’t do it.  It took Christ coming to proclaim himself the Lord of Jubilee.  We always find rest, we always find grace and forgiveness in Christ.  Christ is the Lord of the Sabbath.

So what does this mean for health?  These words from Henri Nouwen struck me as relevant to this:

In general we are very busy people.  We have many meetings to attend, many visits to make, many services to lead.  Our calendars are filled with appointments, our days and weeks filled with engagements, and our years filled with plans and projects.  There is seldom a period in which we do not know what to do, and we move through life in such a distracted way that we do not even take the time and rest to wonder if any of the things we think, say, or do are worth thinking, saying or doing.  (The Way Of The Heart - Henri Nouwen).

We need, more than ever before, to take the time to ponder our lives in times of rest.  Try it for one week.  Take a full Sabbath day.  Many cite this time of rest as a key to happiness.

I’ve been reading quite a bit about what happiness is.  At the Center for Positive Psychology in Pennsylvania, they discuss one way to find happiness is to design a beautiful day.  Here is the assignment as described on their web-page:

Beautiful Day Activity

A Beautiful Day: Applying Principles of Positive Psychology

Author: Martin E. P. Seligman, University of Pennsylvania

Concept: Positive psychology seeks to understand the qualities of the good life, encompassing positive subjective experiences and the qualities that define them. This activity will challenge students to explore their own definitions of the good life as they apply the concepts studied throughout the unit.

Materials: None.

Description: After discussing the qualities of positive subjective experience and what constitutes "the good life," propose the following to the students:

Design a beautiful day (a 24-hour clock day) that is within the realm of possibility for you to live currently. Explain why you choose each element.

Have students bring in their designs for discussion. This discussion is to help the instructor be sure that the students understand what the research says about positive subjective experiences and "the good life." Once discussion has come to a satisfactory conclusion, present the following assignment to the students:

Try to live that day and report your feelings while including the following questions:

Part 1: Were you successful in living that day? Why or why not? Were all of the qualities of your beautiful day truly beautiful? Why or why not? What would you now change about your perception of a beautiful day?

Part 2: Is there any action you might take to move toward achieving a "beautiful day" on a more regular basis? How does your conception of a "beautiful day" fit in with your life's goals?

So, design one beautiful Sabbath and keep it.  I would love to hear about the results.  I am committed to keeping Sabbath this year.  It will be so so difficult for me.  I don’t even know if it’s possible but here’s what I plan:

No email at all on the Sabbath.

Go to church or find a way to worship on the Sabbath.

Do something fun and relaxing.

Get out into nature if possible.

Read something non-work related.

Eat something wonderful a few times during the day, but not anything that is difficult to prepare.  Make it easy.  Or eat out.

Go slow.  Give thanks for five things.

Talk to friends and family, to find out how they are doing.

Hang out with someone or some-two or three that you love.

Richard Rohr writes the following about keeping Sabbath…it’s more metaphorical meaning in our lives beyond just the practicality of resting:

“[We] are overly concerned with building our own kingdom and seeking our own fame… Keeping the Sabbath reminds [us] that the meaning of life does not consist in action alone” (Discovering the Enneagram, 228). 

Sabbath is not inaction…it is a halting, a pause, a breath.  Very important in the fullness of life. 

I start next Sunday.  I’ll let you know how it goes.