“Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Work six days and do everything you need to do. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to God, your God. Don't do any work… For in six days God made Heaven, Earth, and sea, and everything in them; he rested on the seventh day. Therefore God blessed the Sabbath day; he set it apart as a holy day” (Exodus 20:8-11, The Message).
Sabbath is to be a day of personal rest and worship. Sabbath comes from the Greek “sabbaton” and the Hebrew “shabbath.” It literally means REST.
Now most of us who are not extremely devout and keepers of God’s law (like Orthodox Jews) fail miserably in keeping the 4th commandment. I know that I do. Why is this so? For me it has been a struggle all my religious life. As a priest, I work on the Sabbath and am busy all week. But is this good for either my soul or my body? Obviously not. God has a good reason to give us this commandment (along with the other nine) to help us live more effectively and peacefully in this life -- like honoring our relationships and not doing murder, adultery, stealing, telling lies about our neighbors or lusting after them and their stuff.
So, enough of my Sabbath avoidance! It really wasn’t the Bible that brought me to this conclusion but a powerful Yom Kippur sermon by Rabbi Chuck Feinberg – an old acquaintance of mine when he lived in Madison. Rabbi Feinberg reminded me that when we can’t even take one day off a week from our frenetic lives, how can we ever expect to be present and attentive -- to one another or to God?
I don’t know about you but I have become a slave to our technology (but at least I don’t “Twitter!”). According to researchers who study our technology use, people who work at a desk regularly check forty different websites a day. They will switch programs over 30 times an hour. They talk on their cellphones in their office, on the way home, and even while exercising. We check emails every ten minutes. And we now consume three times the amount of information we did in 1960. Are we three times smarter? I doubt it.
Sure there’s some good to our technology. We are more entertained and more connected with more people. But is the quality of our relationships better? Are we more present and aware? Do we generously listen to others? Or are we overly tied to our devices: phones, televisions, radios, DVDs, CDs, video games, IPods, kindles, laptops and Twitter pronouncements? We multi-task and think we are doing a number of tasks as well as we can do one. We can’t and it’s been proven.
We know there is a cost to all this. And the cost is stress and it affects our mental, physical and spiritual health. We are a people who are over-worked, over-emailed, stressed-out, and sleep-deprived. We are desperately in need of Sabbath!
Now I am not suggesting we become Luddites and work to eliminate the technology tools that make up our modern life and in many ways make it easier. Matt Richtel, technology reporter for the NY Times suggests, make an analogy between technology and food, “Just as food nourishes us… so, too, in the 21st century, in the modern age, we need technology. You cannot survive without communication tools… And yet, food has pros and cons to it. We know that some food is Twinkies and some is Brussels sprouts… And if we consume too much technology, just like if we consume too much food, it can have ill effects.”
With that in mind, I am going to try and limit my Twinkies and increase my Brussels sprouts! I do not suggest we go on a famine, but rather diet from some of our technology. That is why I have decided to start observing a Sabbath day each week. (And it’s about time I did this!) I work on Sunday when I preach and lead worship. It is not a day of rest for me. Sunday is also a day in which I help my wife dialysis in our home. So I am choosing another day during the week which will be my Sabbath day; that will be the day I will fast from technology and work – a day I will rest both my mind and body. This week my Sabbath day is tomorrow. On that day:
1. I will not answer the phone – I will let it go to voice mail – I will only answer emergencies.
2. I will not turn on my computer or IPhone.
3. I will not watch television, listen to the radio, or use my IPod.
4. I will do no work on that day.
5. I will restrict my automobile travel.
The purpose of Sabbath is to increase our love of God through appreciation of God’s creation. It is also a day in which we need to relax; to slow down and preserve our health and reduce the stress in our lives. Sabbath prevents us from working ourselves to sickness and an early death.
My Sabbath day will be a day in which I will be THANKFUL – Thankful to God, wife, family and friends!
I will keep you posted on how I am doing! And please pray for me!
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