Summer Sabbath

I believe in signs. That’s why, when my 10-month-old son pulled the book Sabbath: Restoring the Sacred Rhythm of Rest by Wayne Muller off the shelf for the third time, I decided it was time to read it.

Guilty of preaching something akin to “Sabbath” in Writing the Life Poetic Chapters 60 (The Alchemy of Doing Nothing) and 76 (Allow Fallow Time) but infrequently practicing it, this book gave me a good kick in the pants which landed me squarely on the couch with my feet up.

Lo and behold, on that fateful Saturday, I took a day off from my computer. When my son Theo napped, I napped. Our family took a leisurely trip to the pool. My husband and I cooked a meal together. I felt like a human being instead of a human doing.

Muller credits Brother David Steindl-Rast for reminding us that the Chinese pictograph for “busy” is composed of two characters: heart and killing. This stopped me in my tracks. I, like almost everyone I know, am chronically, overwhelmingly busy. Muller proposes that a day of rest gives us the replenishment we need to live our lives well. To solve our problems creatively. To nourish our hearts – and in our case, dear reader, our poems.

That day of Sabbath was such a success that my husband and I committed to a family Sabbath every Saturday in which all work comes to a halt and the family simply relaxes, enjoys each other, and follows the threads of curiosity and delight wherever they might lead us.

The paradoxical good news for all of us over-achievers is that slowing down actually produces more: work, joy, equilibrium, love. I wonder if rest may be all we need to replenish our poetic wells when they run dry.

So, let’s try an experiment. I propose that you let your creativity simmer on the back burner today, or someday soon, while you simply, deliciously exist—just for the pleasure of it. And while you’re reclined with the rest of your life on “snooze”, make note of any books or magazines that come your way. They just might hold some thread wisdom you’re now ready to unravel.

Comments

[Sabbath]

.., sabbath day is really a good thing to consider as a part of our lives... we really need to check our spiritual life as well...