Friday...

Around our house...Friday has a special sacredness.
Another week of school for our kids is in the books.
Another week of work for my wife and I is ended.
Time seems to slow down a bit and make less demands.
Friday night is pizza and ice cream night.
Friday night is time to watch a movie or some frivolous television.
Friday night seems to have this special sacredness that asks us to breathe and be...take stock of what was...what is...what will be.

Of course, this isn't new.  Our Jewish brothers and sisters have said for centuries that when the sun sets on Friday, the seventh day begins (because in Genesis 1, creation starts at night).  Our Jewish brothers and sisters see sun down on Friday to sun down on Saturday as a time for sabbath...to pause, to worship, to remember that we are more than what we produce or consume.  That we do not earn our worth or Gods love.  Friday as a special, set apart time to be saturated/soaked in the sacredness of life.

Of course...tuning out the world can cause restlessness.  What if I don't respond to that email or text right away?  Why would I want to stop being connected?  Why would I not just go to the store, I mean it is open?  Why would I need a different rhythm?

Because our current - constantly on the go...always connected...always trying to catch some elusive carrot on a stick...doesn't seem to be helping our health - physically or mentally or spiritually.  Some are calling my children's generation, "the Burnout Generation." (click here to read more)  After never having any unstructured time...after constantly going from school to sports to music to studying cycle...they are breaking down.  Our children are not machines.  You are not built to keeping going without moments to breathe and be.  Our bodies...our minds...our hearts...our communities...our families...our earth is crying out...but we keep chugging and coasting along ignoring the warning lights on the dashboard of life.

During Lent...a number of people give something up.  What if you gave up always being necessary?  What if you gave up constantly being connected?  What if you gave up your iphone for just one hour tonight?  Don't worry...it is an amazing device that will hold all your texts until you are ready.  What if you went outside...not to walk...but to sit...listen...feel a breath so deep your belly pushes on the button of your pants?  What if you went outside...to remember God called all creation, "Good" including you!  We need that kind of space and place.  We need those kinds of moments to see and sense the traces of grace I post about.  We need that kind of practice, perhaps now more than ever.  So, what if for the next few weeks on Friday, you would take an hour or two...or ever twelve! to step into something special and sacred?  That kind of openness might just change everything.  Now, if you excuse me...there is a chair outside calling my name.

Blessings ~~