Right from the get-go, I knew I would like this book.
Even a retiree like me rushes about… sometimes aimlessly!
In the main, I had already begun to try and slow down as age crept up and started the process for me anyway.
Plus, being married to a typical Type A male (multi-tasking, competitive, ambitious, dislikes wasting time, etc.) for 50 years had rubbed off on me a little too.
Like most of us, I guess my phone had become a big part of my life.
To be fair, I have a good mix of things I do on it: social media, Kindle, PrayerMate, recipes, notes, sudoku, online shopping, etc. All good — but they can take up time that could be spent on more productive things. They can also pull us away from quiet moments with God; simply sitting and being with Him in your favourite place.
Social media interaction shouldn’t be a substitute for baking a cake and popping round to someone’s house for a slice and a cuppa — spending time with those who are lonely or struggling, or simply taking time to get to know them better.
John Mark Comer had a breakdown after being a pastor in a large multi-site church for 10 years.
Being a Type A personality, he thrived on being “fast”… driven — until the crash came. Here is a snippet from that moment:
“I end my ten-year run at the church. My family and I take a sabbatical. It’s a sheer act of grace. I spend the first half comatose, but slowly I wake back up to my soul. I come back to a much smaller church. We move into the city; I walk to work. I start therapy. One word: wow. Turns out, I need a lot of it. I focus on emotional health. Work fewer hours. Date my wife. Play Star Wars Legos with my kids. (It’s for them, really.) Practice Sabbath. Detox from Netflix. Start reading fiction for the first time since high school. Walk the dog before bed. You know, live.”
Even better, he says: “I feel God again. I feel my own soul.”
He goes on to point out that before the lightbulb was invented, humans slept 11 hours a day — waking with the sun and sleeping when it was dark.
The invention of washing machines and labour-saving devices should have given us more time, but we quickly filled the space with needless activity.
Dan Allender, in his book Sabbath, writes:
“The Sabbath is an invitation to enter delight. The Sabbath, when experienced as God intended, is the best day of our lives. Without question or thought, it is the best day of the week. It is the day we anticipate on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday — and the day we remember on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. Sabbath is the holy time where we feast, play, dance, have more intimate relationships, sing, pray, laugh, tell stories, read, paint, walk, and watch creation in its fullness. Few people are willing to enter the Sabbath and sanctify it — to make it holy — because a full day of delight and joy is more than most people can bear in a lifetime, let alone a week.”
John began a journey toward having a family Sabbath on a Friday, switching off phones and computers and allowing each person to enjoy rest in their own way.
This is a practical book with strong biblical foundations, but it is also full of sobering insights — especially about the impact social media has on the brains of children and young people.
“People are out there trying to create things that will grab our attention in small sound bites!”
God says: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”
I love that opening word: “Remember.” It’s easy to forget that there is a day that’s blessed and holy. Easy to get sucked into the life of speed. Easy to let the pace of life race toward insanity.
To forget: Creator (not me), creation (me).
Remember that life, as it comes to us, is a gift.
Remember to take time to delight in it as an act of grateful worship.
Remember to be present in the moment and its joy. Humans are prone to amnesia — so God commands us to remember.
Then God said: “Six days you shall labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God.”
Yvonne Street, 27/07/2023