"Remember the Sabbath. Keep it Holy.": Sibling Assignment #133

Raymond Pert gave Sibling Assignment #133. "Reflect however you'd like upon the idea of the sabbath and your practice of it." Silver Valley Girl's words of wisdom are here and RP's will be posted when he finds wireless again.

About five years ago I read a book about honoring the Sabbath and loved the idea of chosing a day during the week-end that we would keep holy and rest.  This was during a time that I was exhausted most of the time and had a therapist reminding me every session that I needed to slow down and rest. Week-ends were my catch-up time. It was the time we shopped, I did laundry, worked outside, cleaned, and caught up on school work.

A guy I taught with discussed his ritual one time when we were sitting together at lunch. Every Saturday he slept in, didn't use a clock, rested the whole day, prayed and fasted. I loved the idea of a day of rest, but didn't know how I could do it.

Slowly I tried to make changes. JEJ and I tried to set aside time on Sunday after church for ourselves. We would rest, take a hike, go for a drive, or do something other than work. We weren't consistent about it though. Spring would come and I would want to do yardwork. During the fall I would want to rearrange the living room. In December I would want to decorate the house for the holidays.
Last year I set a goal not to do school work on week-ends. Dragging home work always got in the way of honoring the Sabbath. It was a big step for me, but I enjoyed the quiet time at school on Friday afternoons. Everyone else left early on Friday. I stayed and organized myself and planned for the next week. That moved me closer to honoring the sabbath.
Arriving home after church, taking time for a nap, then enjoying our surroundings is how we like to spend Sunday honoring the sabbath. We just need to make it a habit, a ritual. It sure makes the work week start off on a much better note.
I am glad Raymond Pert had me revisit the idea of Sabbath. I do want to rest, reflect, rejuvenate, and keep  it holy. It is the best thing I could do for myself during the week.