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Thoughts on Observing the Sabbath

In her book Leaving Church, Barbara Brown Taylor writes that part of what Sabbath looks like for her is living as though all her work is done. I like this as a guiding principle for Sabbath observance. I would set next to it the principle of doing the opposite of what I normally do, as a way to bring balance and rest. Since I spend much of the week sitting and looking at a screen, Sabbath for me might include walking around outside for a while. Since I spend my work days doing mentally taxing work, Sabbath might include mentally restful activities: doing puzzles, playing board games, or reading something light and entertaining. Perhaps most pertinent for me, since I spend most of my waking hours trying to improve myself, Sabbath must include rest from that heavy labor and the willingness, for twenty-four hours at least, to call my self good. To know myself to be beloved as I am.
True Sabbath requires an interior rest, the cessation of the inner striving to do and be more than I am right now. This means letting go, for one day, of projects, plans, agendas, new ideas, cravings for possessions or pleasures, and the desire to be productive. It means letting myself and the world be. In practice, it means recalling my mind each time it tries to run down these familiar channels, bringing it back to the present moment, and reminding it that, for this day, all is well. It means giving the body, mind and spirit the rest they need to be refreshed and ready to take up the work of becoming human again for another week.
For six days we work to bring about the kingdom of God on earth. On the Sabbath, we celebrate its arrival.
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