Space and Sabbath

I came home from SFTS with more than a suitcase full of books, a notebook full of notes, a folder full of hand-outs, and a box of note cards.  I even came home with more than a plan for distance learning and the manual for said distance learning that is more organized than God!  I came home with a list of personal/professional growing edges and plans for how to address them.  A major portion of the first three years in this program is self-awareness, God-awareness, and intentional action.  Identifying and addressing my growing edges is a key part of this journey.

So...tomorrow I start to work (or perhaps not work) on the first growing edge - keeping a Sabbath.  I was surprised to discover that I did not (ever) keep a Sabbath.  I work hard on the traditional Christian Sabbath, and when I take a full day off, I work hard on it, too.  I am often always busy - busy doing good things, but busy nonetheless.  Rarely do I take time to stop, rest, reflect, play, and open myself more deeply to God - which means I rarely, if ever, keep a Sabbath.

But that changes tomorrow.  I have committed to keeping at least one day per week as a Sabbath - my day set aside for deep resting, reflecting, playing, and being open to God in an intentional way.  I have few ideas of what this will look like (high anxiety for a control freak), but I'm going to just lean into it and see what happens.  I will not work on church work tomorrow (not even the ever-present pile of paperwork, nor any tweaking of the sermon).  I will do things around the house that I enjoy doing (serious housework can wait for another day).  I may cook a bit; I will probably go to the Elks pool for some pain relief, and I may find some place to worship (which will probably mean a RC daily mass someplace, or a trip to Congregation Ahavath Beth Israel for the Shabbat Evening Service).  As a commitment to my keeping a Sabbath, I bought a plain paper notebook, colored pencils and pastel chalks.  Each Sabbath will get its own page as a way of celebrating how God and I spend this time together.

Sabbath is a way of creating space - a space for God, healing, rest, renewal, joy, play - a space for so many things.  I am excited to experience an intentional Sabbath here in Boise - I experienced three while at SFTS, and loved it!  Can I continue this practice now that I am home in the "familiar?"

What might happen in your life if you create some healing, restful, God-infused space?

The following poem was shared with us during the intensive, as a reminder about the importance of space:

Fire - by Judy Sorum Brown

What makes a fire burn is space between the logs,
a breathing space.

Too much of a good thing,
too many logs
packed too tight
can douse the flames
almost as surely
as a pail of water would.


So building fires
requires attention to the spaces in between,
as much as to the wood.


When we are able to build
open spaces
in the same way
we have learned to pile on the logs,
then we can come to see how
it is fuel, and absence of the fuel
together, that make fire possible.


We only need to lay a log 
lightly from time to time.
A fire
grows
simply because the space is there,
with openings
in which the flame
that knows just how it wants to burn
can find its way.

Sabbath as space - holy space - that helps the fire to burn brighter and hotter.  What a great image!

So tomorrow the Sabbath experiment/experience begins.  I will not turn the computer on tomorrow (and possibly not on Saturday either - well, maybe that is too big of a change - let's say definitely not Friday, and Saturday is undecided).  So my next blog entry will be in a day or two - post-Sabbath.  Perhaps then I will share what the other two plain paper notebooks are for...or maybe I can tell you how the prayer songs we used in Chapel at SFTS have helped me to respond in very creative ways, or maybe I'll have a comment on the new (to me) Sallie McFague book that discusses creation as the Body of God...

... or maybe we'll just enjoy some holy space, and fire.

Be well - and may you find Holy Space! 
With love and a heart turned towards this new adventure,

Kim