For Further Reading...

A while back, I decided to create a blog that contains all of my writing. At times, I will continue to write about Sabbath. When I do, I'll be posting it at my new website. You can find and follow it here:

https://caseykcross.wordpress.com/category/sabbath/

Sabbath Mission: From Conversion to Discipleship

"Conversion is not just about a moment; it is a movement of the Spirit. Jesus did not send us out into the world to make believers but to form disciples. St. Francis and Pope Francis exemplify this kind of whole-life discipleship that takes us beyond the moment of conversion into a lifelong process." —Shane Claiborne

In the sanctified, holy moments when God draws near to us we are offered an opportunity of conversion, an opportunity to turn from the old ways of death and toward the life giving way of Christ. In this movement of the Spirit we are guided into a daily living of discipleship and mission. In our dedication to Sabbath moments, we offer our hearts and lives again and again to conversion and the work of the Spirit.

Today is Good Friday. On this day, where we face humanity's inclination toward hatred, torment, torture, and death, we desperately need conversion. In the truth of this horror, meet us where we are God, change our hearts. Put death to death. Let your Spirit move within us, resurrecting us to live a new life in the resurrected Christ.

Parker Palmer on Inner Work

I now (after the experience of sever depression) know myself to be a person of weakness and strength, liability and giftedness, darkness and light. I now know that to be whole means to reject none of it but to embrace it all. 

Some may say that this embrace is narcissistic, an obsession with self at the expense of others, but that is not how I experience it. When I ignored my own truth on behalf of a distorted ego and ethic, I led a false life that caused others pain -- for which I can only ask forgiveness. When I started attending to my own truth, more of that truth became available in my work and my relationships. I know now that anything one can do on behalf of true self is done ultimately in the service of others.

Others may say that "embracing one's wholeness" is just fancy talk for permission to sin, but again my experience is to the contrary. To embrace weakness, liability, and darkness as part of who I am gives that part less sway over me, because all it ever wanted was to be acknowledged as part of my whole self.  -- Let Your Life Speak, 70-71

So, I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities for the sake of Christ; for whenever I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:9b-10

Can we help each other deal with the inner issues inherent in leadership? We can, and I believe we must... inner work is as real as outer work... If people skimp on their inner work, their outer work will suffer as well.

Inner work, though it is a deeply personal matter, is not necessarily a private matter... Indeed, doing inner work together is a vital counterpoint to doing it alone. Left to our own devices, we may delude ourselves in ways that others help us correct. -- Let Your Life Speak, 91-92

Sabbath and self care is an opportunity to recognize the link between our inner and outer work. Sabbath is opportunity for inner work alone or with others, as well as an opportunity to reflect on everything that makes up your outer work.

 

 

Too Cool to Care?

Have you ever noticed that it's an acceptable, cool, thing to be someone who can admit to being "bad" at self care? What really gets under my skin is when speakers or writers who have been invited to speak on this particular topic to church leaders seem to always start off by admitting how bad they are at it. They say this as though it's their badge of shame, or to seem relatable. It's way easier to admit your too Type A, too busy, too active, whatever, to really spend time on yourself. What the conversation about being good or bad at self care completely misses is that it's not about how good or bad we are at it at all. It's about fulfilling the Greatest Commandment: loving your neighbor as you love yourself. It's about living in the freedom of Christ, not shackled to our works-righteous-need to not only be good enough, but in complete control of being good enough.

One of the most counter-cultural things we can do as a people of faith is to actually care about ourselves. To be someone who not only preaches, but lives this -- setting healthy boundaries, saying no to someone so you can say yes to self care, organizing your day in a way that allows you the time you need to check in with yourself, refocusing yourself on your heart center - the love of Christ/the work of the Spirit... This lifestyle is not quite so acceptable as walking around with the burden of not being good at taking care of yourself. You have to be ready to hear and feel the judgement that you are lazy or selfish, even if that's not the case. It is in these moments where we can look to scripture and Martin Luther's writings for wisdom and validation. None of us are good enough. We won't be good enough. BUT Christ makes us good enough. God loves us anyway and says we are worthy of love. We are worthy of the love of God, the love of others, and self love. From this place of love, we can live for others, as Jesus taught us.

Let's workshop this a bit...

Because we are so different, we have different ways of expressing self care. So maybe you're too Type A. Well some of that is your own unhealthy relationship with work, achievement, and status, so some of your self care might be learning to face this reality. But some of that Type A personality is simply the gift of who you are. How does someone who likes to DO and GO practice self care? It might not be sitting and doing nothing, though it might be learning to notice when you are doing that, as we all must at different points in our day. Instead, your self care might be about being surrounded by close friends and laughing 'til your sides hurt. Or, going to the gym to work out a muscle group that you've been neglecting.

Self care is fundamentally about intention. How you practice that intention in your life is different and may change at different points in your life depending on the place you find yourself. The beautiful thing is intention doesn't weigh anything and can stay with you no matter where you go.

So when you find that little voice popping up to tell you that you're being selfish or you don't deserve the time/space/forgiveness/prayer/quiet/fun/work out/reading you really need, find a new voice. (Sing a new song...) Say to yourself, " __Insert name here__, YOU ARE A BELOVED CHILD OF GOD. God says you're worthy of love, so I'm not going to argue with God."

I want to clarify that self care is not the same thing marketers would have you believe. I'm not talking about indulging in a frappucino or going on a Treat Yo'Self-style shopping spree. Though tasty and fun, these are only shallow reactions to a much deeper need. Give yourself more credit than that. YOU ARE WORTH MORE THAN THAT. Live in the grace of Christ, speak to yourself with that grace, and take time to learn what self care means for you. Then, live it. And stop talking about if you're good or bad at it. Just live it like breathing. (I mean really, who says they're bad at breathing?) Don't let the people who have failed to recognize their own freedom and worth drag you away from the life Jesus calls us to. 

Remember the words of Paul from Ephesians 6 and consider what this means in the language of self care:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his power. Put on the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For our struggle is not against enemies of blood and flesh, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, so that you may be able to withstand on that evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace.With all of these, take the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.
Pray in the Spirit at all times in every prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert and always persevere in supplication for all the saints.Pray also for me, so that when I speak, a message may be given to me to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it boldly, as I must speak.

Amen.

Living and Resting

Read anything from Annie Dillard and see that she writes beautifully about the ways we spend our lives. What better time than Lent to take the time to reflect on our days - the days we have spent, the day we live now, the days we may or may not have to come... Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, we are one and we are many; alone and together all at once. We live in the paradox of the cross. How are we seeing Christ in our midst? How are we both living and resting in the love of God?



To give credit to this art, and if you would like to read more from Annie Dillard who is quoted there, please visit Brainpickings.org.

Vocation and Sabbath

Vocation does not come from willfulness. It comes from listening. I must listen to my life and try to understand what it is truly about - quite apart from what I would like it to be about - or my life will never represent anything real in the world, no matter how earnest my intentions.

That insight is hidden in the word vocation itself, which is rooted in the Latin for "voice." Vocation does not mean a goal that I pursue. It is a calling that I hear. Before I can tell my life what I want to do with it, I must listen to my life telling me who I am. I must listen for the truths and values at the heart of my own identity, not the standards by which I  must live - but the standards by which I cannot help but live if I am living my own life.

Behind this understanding of vocation is a truth that the ego does not want to hear because it threatens the ego's turf: everyone has a life to live that is different from the "I" of daily consciousness, a life that is trying to live through the "I" who is its vessel. This is what the poet knows and what every wisdom tradition teaches: there is a great gulf between the way my ego wants to identify me, with its protective masks and self serving fictions, and my true self. 

- Parker Palmer, Let Your Life Speak 

Each of us bears a sense of calling, even if it is only voiced by the question, "Why am I here?" This simple question is the seed of vocation. We bear this question, or questions like this, every day. When we do not allow space to quiet our own questions, to sit in silence, to listen for the breath of life, the voice of God, we deny the answer to our deepest longings. We remain in a pregnant state, bearing the weight of the question without the birth of an answer or the life to live it.

Vocation needs Sabbath. Without Sabbath, vocation cannot be fully realized. Without Sabbath, Ego rules our days, our questions, our answers, our identity. Our ego fashions idols of immediate gratification, busying us, but never completing us; gorging us, but never really filling us.

We need Sabbath because we need the voice of God that sometimes whispers (sometimes screams) at us to realize another way to be. What are the truths and values at the heart of your identity that tell you who you are? Silence your ego, empty your mind, open your ears, and listen for the Voice. Let the great Intercessor, the Midwife, meet you where you are and bring life to the answers that await you.

Emmanuel, God is with us.

Cappella degli Scrovegni, Midwife Salome

When I Was Bored

Skipping
Cartwheels
Headstands
Handstands
Wrestling
Walking barefoot
Hanging from tree limbs
Picking flowers or strands of grass
Playing hopscotch
Cloud gazing

Tag! You're it!

Jump rope
Climb fences
Push Jump Hop
Whistle Hum Sing

Go exploring
Cross bridges
Build bridges
Draw maps
Build a fort
Take a long, meandering walk

Gaze out the window
Splash in puddles
Stomp on leaves
Kick a rock

Hold hands
Giggle
Squeeze Squish Squash
Close your eyes and count to ten

One...Two...Three...Four...Five...Six...Seven...Eight...Nine...Ten...

Ready or not, here I come!

Feeling Useless?

My daily hour with God is not a time of deep prayer in which I contemplate the divine mysteries or feel a special closeness to God. On the contrary, it is full of distractions, inner restlessness, confusion, and boredom. It seldom, if ever, pleases my senses. Even though I do not feel God's love the way I feel a human embrace, even though I do not hear a voice as I hear human words of consolation, even though I do not see a smile like I see a human face, still the Lord speaks to me, looks at me, and embraces me there. The way I become aware of God's presence is in that remarkable desire to return to that quiet place and be there without any real satisfaction. And I notice, maybe only retrospectively, that my days and weeks are different when they are held together by these regular and 'useless' times. God is greater than my senses, greater than my thoughts, greater than my heart. I do believe that God touches me in places that are hidden even to myself. And I do believe that when I pray I am in touch with the divine presence reflected in my heart.

- Henri Nouwen, Discernment

Sabbath moments can also be defined as "useless" in the eyes of the world. In some ways, it is because in these moments we are. We hold ourselves useless in order to attune ourselves to the ways God is calling us to be useful and to recognize the ways we are being put to use by God. But we have to stay for a moment, un-busy ourselves for a time, in order to be ordered by that usefulness of God.

Give yourself a "useless" time with God today. It can be one minute or an hour, whatever you feel you need.

Consider your most useless moments. Where was God? What gifts does uselessness bring us?

Sabbath is...

"Rest in Harvest" by William-Adolphe Bouguereau c.1865

Rainbows and Bowties

"Rainbows and Bowties" was the name of a song I wrote when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. It basically went something like,

rainbows and bowties,
rainbows and bowties,
i love rainbows,
i love bowties,
hearts hearts,
love,
rainbows and bowties....

I was very proud of it and thought it summed up everything about life. Period. Of course, I drew rainbows and bowties all over the page too. I remember begging my mom to read it and so she did, out loud, seemingly unimpressed. How does she not GET IT?! I wondered to myself. This song is EVERYTHING!!! (This is why Rainbow Brite will always be my favorite superhero because she obviously got it. If you don't know what I'm talking about, watch her mission statement here.)

Of course, I survived. I've attempted writing music since, but honestly everything else has come up short. In one moment, I captured the essence of life as only a child could.

One of my dreams has been to write liturgy. I figure I'll get around to it some day. When I do, don't be surprised to see something about a rainbow in there.

So I write these little thoughts out today because this morning, during a break in the rain, I walked Lola. I was grumbling in my head a little about something obnoxious (blah blah blah, unecessary stress, blah blah blah) when I looked up and BAM. There it was - A full length, full color, rainbow. It wasn't the brightest rainbow, but it was solid. It was beautiful. I took a breath and reconnected, letting that grumble-grumble fall away. It has since begun raining again, but I'm okay with that. For a moment, a sabbath moment, I was reminded of something bigger and more beautiful than my stuff. Without the rain, we never get to see the rainbow. So I write this post in celebration of the much needed rain (drought! booo!) and in celebration of the unexpected surprises that stop us in our tracks (rainbows! yay!!!).

Where did you see a rainbow today? Or, what was your rainbow today?

Rest

Your Sabbath Mission today? Look out for places of rest. If you feel so moved, create your own public or private rest area. Take pictures of these places and share them with us in the comments, our facebook group, or any other group that may be following this experiment.

Where do you see someone resting? Where could someone rest if needed? What makes a place restful? How does hospitality and welcome play into building or setting the scene for rest?

Where do you like to rest? What makes that place particularly restful for you? Try to list all of the elements that make it a special place. What do you see, touch, smell, hear? What brought you to that place? How long did you stay? How often do you visit?

Two Minute Sabbath

Have you taken a sabbath moment today?

Psalm 23


Which words or phrases, and animation most stood out to you?
How is it connecting with your life today?
What are you being called to do about it today/this week? Or, how are you going to be with it today/this week?

40 Day Follow Up

As part of my Masters project, I've taken survey responses from many of you in the first stages of this experiment. I've put together a follow up survey. It would be a big help to me if you will follow the link below and fill it out. Like the first survey, this is anonymous other than the closing personal info you contribute. Thanks for joining me in this journey!

40 Day Sabbath Experiment Follow Up Survey

Sabbath Sparks

I've contemplated the meaning and necessity of sabbath for quite some time. It wasn't until last year that I became convincted enough to move into action about it. In the next few entries, I will begin sharing the personal stories that led me to sabbath action - Sabbath Mission. I will begin with an article I wrote for our church newsletter a few months ago. This gives you a general idea of the experience I had with some closing questions you are welcome to respond to in the comments or facebook group. In my next few entries, I'll write more about the experience as well as more explicitely about its connection to sabbath mission.

~+~

“The desert is a dangerous place. Nobody goes there unless they really have to…” These are the words that begin countless Godly Play stories. These stories share the history of God’s people, where they came from, where they went, and most importantly how God met them wherever they were, guided them, protected them, and gave them a home. Surprisingly, or not so surprisingly, the wilderness played a critical role in these stories of lost, wandering, and lonely people. It was through the wilderness that God spoke; whether through a burning bush or by the words of an angel near a rushing river. It is in the wilderness that these people of God shed their past and entered into a new way of life, fully reliant on the one true God.

Most of us have, literally or metaphorically, had wilderness experiences in our lives. We have felt lost and lonely. We have felt the drive to go out, away from everything we know, to begin again with a new start, a new perspective. The gift of keeping these wilderness experiences metaphorical is that no matter the depth of emotion you may feel, the rest is relatively controllable. You can distract yourself with food, conversation, and the stuff of life. But when you step over that boundary by actually, physically putting yourself in the wilderness, you have chosen another layer of vulnerability. You no longer have the safety of distraction, comfort of your bed, or control over surroundings. You are lost, alone, and in even greater likelihood than before, physical danger. Wild animals roam. Weather is unpredictable and uncontrollable. Bugs are everywhere. Dirt is everywhere. It’s a different world than the one we usually construct for ourselves. Yet, we are created for, and even by, this very same wilderness.

This last July, I brought a small but courageous group of five on a wilderness excursion, rightly called: The Journey: Personal Transformation in the Wilderness. This rite of passage was developed by Pastor Joel Martyn for anyone 14 years old through adulthood. This experience is a three-fold process. The first stage is Severance. In this stage, participants reflect on where they have come from, what has brought them to the experience, and what they will need to sever themselves from in order to fully immerse themselves in the wilderness. Using the story of Jesus being led out into the wilderness after his baptism, we discussed and reflected on what it was we had to leave behind and what we brought with us to the experience. We were given time to sit alone and write out a list of all of those things. These lists ushered us into the second stage, Threshold, as we threw them into a low fire - a sign of our readiness to let go. From this point, after watching our paper turn to ash, we were led one-by-one to areas where we would spend the next two days and two nights in solitary with only water, prayer, and the Bible to sustain us.

This period of time was so intensely personal; it has been hard for me to find words to fully express what happened. I can say that I experienced what I had only previously read, straight from mystics of our religious history - The Word of God kept me full. In this time, the word “faith” took on a new meaning to me. Through the wilderness, God nourished my faith. Through the ups and downs, the points where I thought I reached my emotional and physical limits, the Spirit pushed me through, refining me with a new inner strength. At the end of this Threshold stage, when I found myself reaching a new limit of exhaustion and loneliness, I finally heard the call to return to camp. I said goodbye to this new, sacred space I had inhabited for the past 48 + hours, and trudged back down to camp.

We assembled back where we began, around the fire. After some discussion, we were invited into the third stage of our experience, Incorporation. When we felt ready, we stepped one-by-one over a line of fire where we were blessed in the name of the Trinity, into our new life. And finally, we feasted together. Fresh food filled our bellies. The joy of fellowship filled our hearts. We were new people, grounded in a new personal and spiritual strength, with no rush to be anywhere except right where we were, with each other.

No matter how different the wilderness experience may be for each individual; whether you join the next group on The Journey, or not, I know with a clarity I did not have before that it is in the wilderness places that God will find you. You will not be alone. You will be changed. Without wilderness experiences we lose sight of ourselves, we lose connection to the earth and each other, we forget our Creator, or God, who pulls us from the ashes of our past and repurposes us for a greater future.

When have you been called, or even forced, into a wilderness experience? How did God meet you there?

If you do not feel that you have experienced the wilderness, what is keeping you from taking the steps necessary to enter the journey? From what do you need to sever yourself in order to immerse yourself in the journey God is calling you to enter?

If you are feeling lost in the wilderness now, what are the limits you have reached? How has the Spirit pulled you through, even when you couldn’t yourself? What do you need in order to cross the fire into incorporation?

Silent Space

One of the hardest things for me to wrap words around is silence. How can I possibly write about this? Yet, silence is integral to sabbath. While we may not be able to give an entire to day sabbath rest, we can choose perspective, as most of this blog has been about. We can also choose silence. We can turn off the noise of opinions and words, meaningless sounds that we must filter through every day.

In a world of too many words, silence affects people who are no longer affected by sound. Plenty of us who are defended against sound have no defense against silence. Some of us love it and some of us flee it. That is because silence can mean anything. 

- Barbara Brown Taylor, When God is Silent

In the space of silence we face...anything. Funny that it is in the space of silence, in nothingness, we practice what it really means to listen. Maybe it is in silence that we can finally hear the word of God for which we've been searching.

People talk about God as being that one thing that fills the void in your heart, that one thing missing in your life. But what if God is that void? What if, instead of filling a void, God creates space. It's not just more time we need, it's space in an overcrowded life. What if God is the quiet emptiness we actually need? What if, instead of fearing the space and silence, we faced it and let ourselves flounder there for a bit, acknowledging the scariness of it all, the unknown of it all? What, in that formless void of space, will God create within us?

Take some time to muse on this today. In what ways do you need internal and external silence? In what ways do you need to practice listening? 

Where do you need space? Where is there already a void? (A relationship? A missed opportunity? A disappointment or unfulfilled desire? A frustration, confusion, or overwhelming emotion?...) How is God be calling you to enter that space? What message/story/voice is it calling you to listen to?

WANT MORE?

Does absolute quiet exist? Is there a place we could go to seek it out? The quest for silence spaces has inspired George Foy. Read about what he's learned here.

It's easy for those of us who hear to assume everyone wants to, including people born deaf. Check out this article about why some deaf people do and don't want hearing restored.

Curious about taking a vow of silence or silent retreat? Check out one woman's experience here.

Sabbath Mission - Day 40

I can't claim that anything I've written over the past 40 days is "new." There are countless books about the Sabbath, the necessity of rest, the ways the consumption of technology and media are affecting our brains, the troubles of an over-scheduled life, etc. etc. I don't wish to simply say more of the same thing. Instead, my hope for this experiment has had to do with building community engagement and involvement. If we are to revision and redefine sabbath for the 21st century, it is not merely a matter of Bible study and rest; though, that is where many of us may need to begin. Instead, it is the practice of both/and. As you may have noticed, each week of this process has had a theme or title that involved this practice. Week One wasn't just gratitude - it was grattitude AND letting go. In this same way, sabbath for the 21st century isn't just sabbath - it's Sabbath Mission.

Early on, as I contemplated our pressing need for sabbath, it also became clear to me that it wasn't just a matter of revisiting an old idea. It was a matter of complete renewal, even reformation. Sabbath is easily and often confused with liesure time, a break, or a holiday; rather than a perspective and rhythm by which we can shape our lives. On the other hand, mission without sabbath is often understood and spoken as action and works-based. It can be ego-driven without the balance of sabbath. It can become all about how we are bringing about the Kingdom of God. Mission needs sabbath as sabbath needs mission. Without the counterpoint of one, the other is lost. As we begin living this both/and, Sabbath Mission, we become more alive in our engagement with life itself. We live Christ-centered, rather than ego-driven.

In the community we've built through this experiment we have grown in our understanding of a sabbath life. We've been inspired to pass it on, talk about it, and try something new; expressing our new growth out in the world. These deepend relationships, this new expression, is the mission of God in motion. We have stumbled upon its definition on our own and go from here living in it. That's why we need sabbath and that's why we, as a people of faith, are also a people of mission.

Sabbath Mission will not look the same for everybody or the same every day. To be a people of Sabbath Mission does not mean we will spend every day perfectly in gratitude/letting go, care for creation/confession, worship/idolatry, peace/bitterness, and rest/distraction. Some days, all we will be up for or feel we have the time for is simply breathing. Other days, we will have the gift of space, more time to wander through the rituals and practices that make sabbath Sabbath Mission for us. As the heading of this blog wonders, the point isn't so much the amount of time we have, but how we honor it. What will happen when we dedicate our time to sabbath? There is not one answer to this. It is one of those questions that constantly leads to new questions and new conclusions, depending on the day.

The biblical poet suggested that there are 613 commandments: 365 (the number of days in the year) plus 248 (the number of bones in the body, according to the science of the day). In other words, we bring all the parts of who we are, "the bad and the good," into every moment, and every moment is a commanding moment. - Irwin Kula, Yearnings

Martin Luther teaches us that we are simulatneously saint and sinner. This isn't about what we do and don't do. Rather, we are named Saint because of who we are in relation to God, forgiven sinners. It is the grace of God that has transformed this relationship into something wholly new. It is in this grace that we can face the truth of who we are both saint and sinner.

Consider what this means in our relationship to time. We are simultaneously saint and sinner, bringing both the good and bad with us into every moment. Every "commanding moment" is an opportunity to practice Sabbath Mission, an opportunity to live out our new relationship with God, freed by the radical grace of forgiveness. In the same way that our relationship with God has been transformed by grace, so has our relationship with time been claimed and sanctified (made holy). Some days, Sabbath Mission will come easy to us. Other days it will be struggle. But the unchanging truth of Sabbath Mission is the transformative power of God's grace, alive. Whether we find ourselves on a good day or bad, as we are faced by each commanding moment, we can rest in God's word, "my grace is sufficient for you" (2 Corinthians 12:9). When we finally rest in this Word, we live Sabbath Mission.

You've forced me to talk this way, and I do it against my better judgment. But now that we're at it, I may as well bring up the matter of visions and revelations that God gave me. For instance, I know a man who, fourteen years ago, was seized by Christ and swept in ecstasy to the heights of heaven. I really don't know if this took place in the body or out of it; only God knows. I also know that this man was hijacked into paradise - again, whether in or out of the body, I don't know; God knows. There he heard the unspeakable spoken, but was forbidden to tell what he heard.This is the man I want to talk about. But about myself, I'm not saying another word apart from the humiliations. If I had a mind to brag a little, I could probably do it without looking ridiculous, and I'd still be speaking plain truth all the way. But I'll spare you. I don't want anyone imagining me as anything other than the fool you'd encounter if you saw me on the street or heard me talk. Because of the extravagance of those revelations, and so I wouldn't get a big head, I was given the gift of a handicap to keep me in constant touch with my limitations. Satan's angel did his best to get me down; what he in fact did was push me to my knees. No danger then of walking around high and mighty! At first I didn't think of it as a gift, and begged God to remove it. Three times I did that, and then he told me, My grace is enough; it's all you need. My strength comes into its own in your weakness. Once I heard that, I was glad to let it happen. I quit focusing on the handicap and began appreciating the gift. It was a case of Christ's strength moving in on my weakness. Now I take limitations in stride, and with good cheer, these limitations that cut me down to size - abuse, accidents, opposition, bad breaks. I just let Christ take over! And so the weaker I get, the stronger I become. 

- 2 Corinthians 12:1-10 (The Message)

In what ways has the 40 Day Sabbath Experiment helped you face your weaknesses?

In what ways has the 40 Day Sabbath Experiment helped you recognize God's strength despite your weakness? How has it made you stronger?

How will you continue to explore Sabbath Mission in your life? 

Sabbath Again - Day 39

In the closing of our 40 day experiment, it is good to look back at the place where we started. Many of us started at a place grappling with definitions. What is sabbath? What does it mean to practice the Sabbath? Do we even need to anymore? I have used this experiment as an opportunity to reconnect to the heart of sabbath and, as I've said so often in previous posts, reorient myself through sabbath practices. In this experience, sabbath has taken on a new meaning for my daily life, as I know it has for many of you as well.

So much of our lives is just this - taking words, old ideas, a life-time of education and experiences, meeting them again, and seeing them with new eyes. It is pretty awesome to watch something we once thought dead or meaningless suddenly filled, even breathing, with new life...



Most of us know the story, The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. If you own a copy of it, take some time to read it or watch the video below. You may come to the story with reactions from previous readings... loving it, hating it, critique of this or that... As you read or listen to the story, I want you to read it from the perspective of sabbath.

Where do you see the gift of sabbath in this story? 



In his book, Yearnings, Irwin Kula discusses the different ways people usually understand The Giving Tree, closing with a description of the one he has found to be least popular, in which the story is re-titled, "The Receiving Boy."

Here the boy-turned-man is able to voice his vulnerability and accept the care of the tree. He is unafraid of showing his dependence. He is joyfully dependent, freely expressing his weaknesses, needs, and dreams. This in turn evokes unconditional generosity from the tree... This interpretation touches the part of us that longs to be cared for unconditionally; to share our neediness with our hands fully open and our hearts exposed. When we can overcome our fears, and surrender in this way, the boundaries between giving and receiving can dissolve. There is an honesty and transparency between helper and helpee. When we receive, we give. When we give, we receive.

We are created to give and receive. In sacred time, sabbath time, we live simultaneously as giver and receiver. 

Is it harder for you to give or receive? What are ways that Sabbath Mission can help you balance both of these needs?

Sabbath Mission - Day 38

Jesus shows us what it looks like to live Sabbath Mission. Through his example, we learn that sabbath is not just a day; rather, a behavior, a perspective, and a rhythm of life. The four gospels provide us with a vision of Christ’s mission for the world. As Jesus lived out his own sabbath rhythms, bumping up against the order of Jewish law, he showed us what sabbath keeping can do for the world. He showed us where human lawfulness ends and God’s call for all creation begins. In the Gospel of John, we hear Jesus specifically handing this call over to his disciples in two places, just before he is handed over to be imprisoned and ultimately crucified; “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world.” (John 17:17-18); and, when he meets his disciples again, in resurrection, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” The call to live out this Sabbath Mission echoes beyond our understanding of time and space.

When we choose sabbath for our lives, we are making a point to live intentionally, not reactionary. We live lives of gratitude, care, worship, peace, and rest. We face those things we need to let go of and confess. Those things we idolize, or embitter us, and distract us from Sabbath Mission. We live watchful lives, paying attention to those moments where God's kingdom breaks in.

Sabbath is not only a gift; it is also the practice of sanctifying time. When we live in sanctified time, we live in holy time. In holy time, we are reoriented to the bearer of all time, and are sent out to live our lives pulsing in rhythm, in time, with God. Living to the beat of this rhythm of God is how we live God’s mission in the world. When we lose track of God’s time, we lose track of our mission in the world.

The church is mission. In a renewed commitment to sabbath practices and sabbath rhythms the Church is reborn with a deeper understanding of the Sabbath for daily life. In these moments of rebirth, the church can fully embody Christ in the world.

How has your personal commitment to the Sabbath Experiment reoriented your life? In what ways do you feel you have been reborn? 

When considering the Church in the world, what are some of the ways we, as a body, might benefit by a re-commitment to Sabbath Mission? What are some practical things we can do as a body to live out our Sabbath Mission better than we do now?

Sabbath Mission - Day 37

Some thoughts on mission...

"Mission is nothing but the one church of God in motion." - Wilhelm Loehe

A way of being church must emerge that orients the whole life of a Christian community around God's mission. The question that will drive such an emergence is, "What does it mean to be the church as we live?" - not as we think or remember or long for, but as we live as the people of God...What matters first and perhaps most is who we are: a people created, chosen, cleansed, claimed, and called by God in Christ. And we are who we are, for better or for worse, all the time, not just on Sunday mornings or Wednesday evenings. - Nathan Frambach

Both mission and sabbath lead us to a reflection of our whole life - our intentions, our purpose, and all of the ways we "walk the talk". Both mission and sabbath bring about a reorienting process, offering us an opportunity start fresh in the new life we were created for. Sabbath and mission are complementary. We cannot have one without the other.

What are the ways you see "the one church of God in motion"? What are the ways you see sabbath rhythms fitting into this motion?

Week 6: Sabbath Mission - Day 36

In my last post I hinted at the heart of this experiment. When I invited you to join me in this experiment, it wasn't just about practicing sabbath through our re-dedication of time. It also had to do with reconnecting to the mission of the church. The church is who we are together and in the world. The church is what we do and how we live our Christ's mission in the world.

For our final days in this 40 day experiment, I will dive more directly into the connection of sabbath and mission. I will also create a survey, similar to the one many of you took before this blog began, as a way to share and assess our growth, understanding, discoveries, and reorientation(s).

This focus nicely fits the theme of this week of the new year. This is a time when many people create new year's resolutions, which is another way of reorienting oneself to a personal mission. So today, I invite you to begin creating your "new year's mission". You may do something similar to the list shared by Spirituality and Practice below, or use their list as a jumping off point for something different. You may wish to look over the past few weeks and use those themes as a place to start. Maybe this experiment has inspired you to make other changes that you'd like to implement? Today is your day to begin putting it into mission language. When you consider your "new year's resolutions" how do they fit with sabbath rhythms and Christ's mission in the world?

If you'd like to open up this conversation with your kids, there's a few ways you can get them thinking and talking. One quick idea: Use post its! Dedicate a wall or space in your house where they can add their hopes for a new year with pictures or words. Invite them to add something new every day for the entire week. This can be an easy family activity. Maybe you can have your own post-it color stack so it becomes really colorful. Set a family time at the end of the week where you read through all of them together. Group the similar hopes and ideas together. Talk about how these things are important for a good year. Talk about what's missing too. Pray together and put the post its in an envelope marked 2014. At the end of next year, take them out and read through them together again. Talk about the year together. Which hopes became a reality? Which changed? Set up a space to do it all again for 2015!