Hello my friends.
This is Mark Gladman,
Also known as Brother Frederick James,
Your friendly neighborhood monk in dogs.
Welcome to this special series of Reflections on Sabbath.
Sabbath is one of those topics that can feel both deeply attractive and yet strangely uncomfortable all at the same time.
Now part of the reason for that is because Sabbath pushes against the spirit of the world that we live in.
We live in a world that's always moving forward.
Faster,
Bigger,
Better,
More productive,
More successful,
More efficient.
More connected.
More profitable.
The world around us is built.
On motion.
Think about the way governments and economists speak about society.
They often talk about growth as one of the highest goals.
The economy needs to grow.
Businesses need to produce.
People need to buy.
Consumers need to spend.
Workers need to keep working so they can earn more money to spend on the things being produced and sold.
And for the whole system to keep functioning.
We need to keep going.
We need to keep producing,
Keep consuming,
Keep moving,
Keep achieving.
The idea of stopping,
Truly stopping,
Begins to feel almost dangerous.
In a world like that.
But Sabbath speaks a very different language.
Sabbath speaks of ceasing.
Resting.
Of stillness,
Of enough.
Peace and stopping for a while and remembering that your worth isn't measured by your productivity.
And because Sabbath speaks this different language.
Quite often it can feel really uncomfortable and sometimes even threatening.
Because once you begin to talk about rest,
About slowing down,
About not producing all the time?
You begin pushing against one of the deepest assumptions,
Not just of modern life.
But of life for many,
Many,
Many years.
And yet at the very same time,
Something else is happening.
The very world that tells us to keep going.
Is also exhausting us.
I'll guarantee that you're feeling tired,
Deeply tired,
Not just physically.
But emotionally,
Mentally,
Even spiritually tired.
Many people are running faster and faster just to keep up in a world that never seems to slow down.
Maybe that describes where you're at.
Maybe you felt that exhaustion.
That sense of constantly carrying too much,
Too much noise,
Too much pressure,
Too much information,
Too much responsibility,
Too much movement.
And deep down something in you longs for rest.
It's not being lazy,
It's not trying to escape,
But genuine rest,
The kind of rest that truly restores the soul.
Because somewhere within us,
We know that even if we never stop,
Eventually something begins to break down inside us.
And so we find ourselves caught in this tension.
Everything else tells us to keep going,
But deep within.
Something's longing us to stop.
And that,
I believe,
Is why in this modern world,
The concept of true Sabbath matters.
And it's also why Sabbath.
Can be hard.
Even when we recognize the need for rest,
Questions immediately begin to rise within us.
Can I really stop?
Should I stop?
What happens if I stop?
Will I fall behind?
Will it affect my work,
My finances,
My opportunities,
My responsibilities?
Sabbath asks us to trust that life is more than endless productivity.
And that can be deeply,
Deeply challenging.
But if you're.
.
.
Listening through these series.
Then I can only assume that at least some part of you is open to the possibility that another way of living might exist.
A way that's marked by peace.
By stillness,
By rest,
By presence.
Breathing room.
And a deep awareness of God.
And so in this series.
.
.
What I want to do is explore some Hebrew words from the scriptures.
That are often translated into English as the word rest.
And as we slowly reflect on these words and the passages they appear in.
My hope is that you'll begin to discover the deeper essence of Sabbath.
Not Sabbath as a rule or a religious obligation,
But as a way of being.
And maybe not even one day a week.
But every day.
Now one thing I want to make clear from the very beginning is this.
I'm not going to tell you how.
Practice Sabbath.
And the reason for this is very simple.
The outward form Sabbath takes in your life.
May look very different from mine.
I could tell you the things that help me stop,
The things that bring me peace,
The practices that help me slow down and become more attentive to God,
But that's me.
You have your own life,
Your own personality,
Your own responsibilities and limitations and the season of life that you're in.
I don't have children at home anymore.
You might have three young children.
What Sabbath looks like in those two situations may be completely different,
And that's okay.
Because the deeper question isn't,
What do I do?
The deeper question is,
What is the spirit of Sabbath trying to cultivate?
Within me.
So we're going to reflect.
On these Hebrew words together.
And we're going to create an opportunity to go deeper with them and to spend some time being still with them.
And as we do,
Listen for the heart of Sabbath.
Not the activities associated with Sabbath,
But the deeper place that it's trying to lead you to.
That place of rest and trust,
Of stillness,
A place of peace.
A place where your soul can breathe again.
And maybe as you begin to grasp the spirit of Sabbath more deeply.
The practical ways of living it out in your own life will begin to emerge naturally.
Jesus himself understood the deep importance of Sabbath in the Gospel of Mark.
We read that the Sabbath was made for humankind and not humankind for the Sabbath.
And that's a really important statement because Sabbath hasn't been given as a burden.
It was given as a gift.
A gift for a weary and anxious people.
A gift for exhausted people,
For souls that have forgotten how to rest.
In God.
And so over these coming reflections.
We're simply going to slow down together.
We're going to contemplate these Hebrew words translated at rest and maybe little by little.
We'll begin rediscovering what it means to live with a quadrasol.
And so I invite you just to pray with me as we end this introduction together.
God of peace.
In a restless world,
Teach us how to stop.
Teach us how to breathe again.
Teach us how to become still.
Teach us how to let go of the endless pressure to produce and achieve and prove and perform.
Help us remember that we're more than what we accomplish.
And as we begin this journey into Sabbath,
Lead us gently into deeper rest.
Quiet what is anxious within us.
Slow what is hurried within us.
Heal what is exhausted within us.
And through these reflections,
Help us rediscover your presence in stillness,
In silence,
In rest,
And in peace.
And may the grace,
Peace and love of God be with you and remain with you as we explore this Sabbath,
Rest and stillness and silence and peace together.
Until tomorrow.
Grace and peace be with you.
