Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work ... For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. -- Exodus 20:8-11
After a busy morning at church, I have no plans for the rest of this Sunday. Yes, you read that correctly -- NO PLANS! (Well, at least no "to do" list. I'm writing this from the county library, since Conner is here with his 4-H Lego Robotics team editing a video for competition. We'll have dinner tonight with Melissa's side of the family, but other than that, NO PLANS!)
Those of you who know me well know this is nearly unheard of. I rarely have a day where I don't refer constantly to a list of tasks that need to get done. So it feels a bit weird to just go with the flow today and do whatever I want to do.
Possibilities include (but are not limited to): Reading the Sunday newspaper more thoroughly than I usually do; reading "The Passage" by Justin Cronin, a 766-page novel I started more than a month ago (I'm on page 97); reading magazines from the large bedside pile; playing Wii or board games with Conner (Sydney is at a friend's house this afternoon); listening to music; taking a nap; listening to music while taking a nap ...
But is this REALLY what God wants me to be doing with my time? As the days, weeks, months and years of my life have gone by, more and more I have come to realize that the answer is yes -- God wants each of us to take one day out of seven to slow down and get some rest. I'll be happier, more productive and less bitter if I take some time for myself, rather than wearing myself down to a nub.
Should that day be Saturday or Sunday? There's a lot of conversation on the Internet about which day is really the Sabbath, but the bottom line for me is I don't care. I think as long as we get one day of rest every seven, we're doing what God intended.
So why is it so difficult for many of us to get that day of rest? The answers are obvious, and many of them apply to my life: Over-committed, unable to sit still and not think about things that need to be done, too many life distractions, too many shopping options open on Sunday, smartphones constantly chirping that we have a new text message or email, etc.
One of my favorite books that I read and discussed with my adult Sunday school class when I was leading it was John Ortberg's book "The Life You've Always Wanted." In it, Ortberg tells us that in order to have a meaningful, balanced life, we should "ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives."
That's a phrase that has stuck with me since I first read it, even if I often fail to follow it's advice. In other words, stop and smell the roses from time to time, rather than cursing the driver in front of you for not pushing the upper edge of the speed limit.
Good advice. I think I'll add it to my to do list.
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