Sabbath thought

Sabbath is a word that could be of great importance to many people today. Granted, it comes out of the religious community, and that is an immediate turn-off for some. But they should look deeper.

In this multi-tasking world where inactivity is frowned upon and doing nothing seems like a sign of failure, sabbath could be a welcome concept. It springs from the biblical myth of creation, in which God created the world in six days and then rested on the seventh. "We, also," the story seems to say, "ought to design our lives so that we take time to relax, look upon what we have accomplished, and celebrate our successes."

In the religious community which emerged under the Hebrew people, the concept was adopted as a day of rest at the end of a productive week. The Sabbath became a day given over to worship of God and restraint from the things that occupy us the rest of the week. Depending upon how "orthodox" one is in the practice of Judaism, restrictions upon work, travel, and frivolous activities apply.

In the agricultural community, sabbath became a practice which was prescribed for setting aside portions of the land being farmed to allow the land to rest for a year. The land would reconstitute itself and be more productive as a result of this rest.

In the academic community, sabbath morphed into sabbatical, becoming a period of time in which a professor stands away from the classroom to allow the mind to regenerate and refresh.

I suspect you are getting the point I'm making. In our hectic, information-overloaded society, the mind and body are deluged with activity. It would be good to have a time (on a regular basis) devoted to doing nothing. Sound impossible? I don't think so.

Several years ago I was at our favorite cottage on an Adirondack Lake. My dog and I went out on the deck above the boathouse to read. No, she didn't read. She slept. I sat down and gazed out at the lake, awed by the beauty of it. The next thing I knew it was an hour or more later, and I was still gazing. I didn't sleep. I didn't think. I didn't plan. I did nothing, something I had never experienced before. It was awesome. I couldn't believe the freshness of my thought, the spring in my step, the sense of well-being in my heart. I had experienced sabbath.