Sabbath Time take Four

The list was long with many important tasks.
Go to the store.
Run the kids here or there.
Pick this up.
Put that away.
Don't forget.
After racing around trying to beat the clock,
I arrived back home exhausted.

Every cell in my body, from the pinkie toe to that hair that stands straight up on the back of my cowlick head, ached.
Collapsing into the chair.
Trying to numb the tiredness with some show on television.
Too tired to move.

The question that often visits me in such moments is, why?
Why this pace?
Why am I running this race?
Why do I think I can be Super-spiritual Man - able to do it all?

Sabbath re-frames and re-orients time.
It is taking a break and a breath to remember who and whose we are.
I am not just my accomplishments, I am a beloved child of God.
I am not just what I got done, I am continuing to be crafted and created in God's image.

If God rests, why do I resist?
If God said the sacred script of life was every six days you need to cease,
Why do I keep going?

My mind too exhausted throws out a feeble, "I will...next month on vacation."
Or, "I will...next week when things calm down."

But there is always some new problem to take the last serious situation's place.
The tasks waiting to be added to your to-do will always be there.

But we've convinced ourselves to keep trying.
We've told ourselves that we don't want to look lazy.
We've accepted the cultural myth of busyness that burdens our souls and does damage to our lives.

Sabbath.

Rest.

Cease.

Breathe.  Be.  Laugh.  And let God's love and traces of grace sit alongside you.

May these words be embodied in our lives in the coming hours.

Amen.