If you
were not with us last week, here is a tiny re-cap, we are doing a series on the practice of
Sabbath. Sabbath originated with the
creation story. God created the world in seven days and included with the six
days of work was a seventh day of rest. There is a rhythm to life that is
necessary to our balance and well being, but most of us are not well practiced
at this balance. So here at The Village for the next couple of months we are
learning together about Sabbath rest and practice it.
This does
not mean that we are necessarily going back to the last century when people did
not shop or go to the movies on Sunday. Though you could make that choice if
you want. The practice of Sabbath can happen in a few moments of mindful
breathing each day, or when we take a walk and drink in the beauty of God’s
creation. We might take a Sabbath retreat for a couple of days every few months
with no agenda but to rest, pray, and do nothing else.
Which
brings us to today. Wayne Muller, whose book called Sabbath, is our source for this series, writes about a woman who
attended one of his Sabbath retreats. He said one weekend this highly respected
professional, was sharing at the retreat and said: “I am so tired, I am with
people all day and all night, but I still feel so lonely. My soul feels dry.
Even when things work well, when I can break away from work and spend time with
my kids, nothing seems to heal this fatigue, this sense of guilt and duty and
responsibility. It all feels so heavy.” then she sat back and wept (p. 24).
The woman
has a deep weariness from being in that daily push and grind where there is no
room for rest, and no room to be in the presence of God and be loved by God. She
understands that no quick fix will heal her. But we must all start somewhere,
with practices of rest and creative renewal, that connect us to God, and fill
that spiritual well that we each have deep inside. We all have this well, deep inside.
Jesus, in his teaching, did not give us a
seven point plan for stress reduction. In fact, he did not always wait until
everyone was cared for, to take care of himself. Sometimes he just walked away.
He did not leave a plan for who would cover for him while he was gone. He paid attention to his body and soul. And
when he needed to he simply walked away, far away to the other side of the lake
where no one could find him, and he rested and prayed. He did what he had to do
to fill that well inside of himself. He understood that you cannot be a leader
who cares for others if your own well is dry. Ever try to care for someone when you are
done?
This
country is full of people with weary souls who are walking around ready to
collapse. We are making bad choices and not really doing good, creative work
because we have no balance in our lives. Some of us have never rested in God. Others
of us have us have simply forgotten how. Some of us simply no clue how to rest
and pray. The first thing to do is to just STOP. Do you know how to stop? Stop
all the running and over-achieving. Make space to rest and pray.
That is
what Jesus did:
Matthew 14 -- As soon as the meal was
finished, Jesus insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to
the other side while he dismissed the people. With the crowd dispersed, he
climbed the mountain so he could be by himself and pray. He stayed there alone,
late into the night.
Luke 5:15-16
Soon a large crowd of people had gathered to listen and be healed of
their ailments. As often as possible Jesus withdrew to out-of-the-way places
for prayer.
Mark 1:32, 35
32 That evening, at sunset, they brought to him all who were
sick or possessed with demons.
35 In the morning, while it was still very dark, he got up and
went out to a deserted place, and there he prayed.
He did
his work, and then he got away to rest and pray. He could not do one without
the other. But if I ask 1000 church-goers on Monday night, did you stop and
pray today? Do you know what you will say?
·
I sorta pray on the run.
·
I can’t get up early in
the morning to pray. I’m too tired.
·
I don’t know how to pray.
·
Yeah, I know I feel better
when I pray, but I just can’t keep the habit going.
And if I
were to ask you, do you get enough rest, what would you say:
·
Rest, what’s that?
·
I have too much to do.
·
I’ll rest when I retire.
But these are these two things that Jesus did
to take care of himself. We say we want to follow Jesus and be like Jesus. And
yet, we really don’t do very well at these two things he did on a regular basis
to take care of himself.
I want to tell you a story
about what happens when we can carve out a little space in our lives where God
can help us rest and fill our creative wells. It’s a story Wayne Muller tells
in his book Sabbath. Sister Gilchrist is a Cistercian nun at the
Abbey of the Mississippi. She has a variety of jobs which include cooking and
helping to manage the land where they keep a herd of cattle. She enjoys walking
their land in the afternoon and picking wild herbs, and taking those herbs to
the kitchen where they can be used for dinner.
A few years ago they
sisters had a consultation and learned about permaculture to learn about the
most efficient and sustainable use for the land and animals. They were advised
that rather than letting the animals roam the entire field they should build a
pen and have the animals thoroughly graze and fertilize a small patch of land
at a time, and the move the pen to another patch of land. In this way one patch
of land at a time would be fully used and the other sections would rest.
The land would rest. Sabbath
rest, even for the land is needed.
After two years of this,
Sister Gilchrist went out one day in early Spring to discover a dozen new herbs
had miraculously appears alongside the usual ones. New grasses had also
germinated. The new grasses were so nourishing that the sisters were able to
stop supplementing the cows’ diet with corn. These new herbs and grasses had
been embedded in the soil all along. But because the cows had been walking all
over all the land, they were never able to grow to their fullness. When the
land and seeds were given a necessary
Sabbath rest, the earth could reveal these wonderful resources! (pp.
143-144)
The story is, of course, a
wonderful metaphor for our own lives. If we were to allow ourselves periods of
rest and work, how much more creative might we feel? People tell me all the
time that they know they are actually more productive at work when they don’t
work so much and they are rested and take time to play and to feed their souls.
Muller gives suggestions
for trying to slow down and change your pace in order to integrate rest into
your routine. Leaf through a magazine or browse the internet for a few minutes
and find a picture that you find appealing, that brings you joy. Cut out the
picture, or print it, and put it somewhere that you will see it several times a
day. Notice how you feel when you see it. This is another practice of
mindfulness as we discussed last week. Be in the present moment, and just
experiencing delight. Be mindful of how the picture calms you.
Or here is another
suggestion, write a short poem or a few lines in a journal just for yourself,
for no one else to read, about nothing of any importance. Put a flower in a cup
by your bed or on your desk or table. Sing a song that you know by heart. Take
a crayon and make simple drawing of your home. Do something playful like this
every day. The power of a simple act of creativity can help you stop, slow your
pace and interrupt your speed. “Notice how willing you are to be stopped” and
how it feels (pp. 145-6). Sometimes we
let children let us be stopped, but only sometimes.
We don’t know much about
what Jesus did when he went away to the other side of the lake to pray. He was
in nature so we can imagine that he took a look at the beautiful lake, the
trees, and the flowers. I can picture Jesus taking some deep breaths and asking
God to refill his well after Jesus had given so much of himself away throughout
the day. Maybe he sang a song, or wrote a bit of poetry. Maybe he drew a
picture in the sand with a stick. He knew the importance of balance – of a
change of pace—of setting aside time and space from his work to honor Sabbath
rest and to pray.
We also know this. The
work that Jesus did was amazing in its creativity and productivity. He created
a movement that has endured for more than 2000 years. Not many people can say
that. He did not suffer from burn out. He did not complain. We have no record
that he whined about being too busy or being stressed. He had a singular focus.
But in order to move forward with his mission to share the transformative love
of God, Jesus knew that he had to take breaks.
That is our invitation for
today: to follow Jesus and change the world, by taking time and space to rest
and pray, just like Jesus. Last week I
invited you to take moments for Sabbath mindfulness: to use something such as
an alarm on your watch, as a reminder to pause and remember God several times a
day. I asked you to take three deep breaths and be in the present moment and center
yourself.
This week, I want to
invite you to take that a little farther. For those who are not already praying
or meditating every morning, I invite you to take 5 minutes each morning to
simply breathe, and pay attention to your breath. Remember that the word breath
in Greek is the same word as Spirit; so when we breathe, we breathe in the
Spirit of God our creator. We also talked last week about how the breath is
part of the rhythm of the earth, inhale/exhale; night and day, spring and
winter, everything in rhythm.
Here is the practice of
the rhythm of breath: Sit comfortably,
and close your eyes. Let yourself become aware of the physical sensation of the
breath, feeling the length of each inhale and exhale. Don’t change your breath;
just watch the breath. Feel the rhythm of the breath; feel its timing; the end
of the exhale and the readiness to inhale. When the mind wanders, as it will,
don’t fret. Just return your awareness to your breath. Silently pay attention to each inhale and
exhale.
You may open your eyes
now. Set a timer and do this for 5 minutes; Pay attention to how you feel at
the beginning and the end of the five minutes and to the rhythm of your breath.
I do this (Kurt’s
spiritual director is working on getting him up to 10 minutes as he gets really
distracted & stressed), and I can tell you I almost always feel calmer at
the end of the five minutes. There are days when I find it hard to do, but I
try and it does make a difference.
I hope you will try this
practice of the breathing meditation this week. Let me know if you do it and
how it goes for you. You can stop during the day, when you feel stressed, and
do it again. Remember that Jesus did this all the time. He went away to a quiet
place to rest and pray. He connected with the Spirit of God deep inside him.
We
are followers of Jesus and we can change the world, but we need balance to do
it. We need the Sabbath practice of rest.
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