Sabbath, Or Wasting Time

Every time Sunday rolls around, my brain starts spinning with possibilities of things to do. "I should make cookies. Or write. No, read! Or maybe do yoga. Or go for a walk. A nap would be good. What about going out somewhere? Maybe a garden. Or a park." It's like I have to fill up the day with all the good things I can't seem to get enough of during the week. I can't waste Sunday; Monday will be here all too soon. Maybe you feel the same?

But if you look at my standard list of Sunday possibilities, to most they would seem like a waste of the day. These activities don't necessarily do others much good, unless you'd like a cookie fresh out of the oven. They don't necessarily achieve anything on the everlasting "To Do" list. But they all do one thing that is super important: they rest my soul. And isn't that what Sunday, my Sabbath, is about? Resting my soul?

To be able to "waste" a day by doing things that refresh and rest my soul is a gift: an intentional, God-given gift. This day of waste laughs at worry, dances free in the face of serious necessities and must-be-dones. It rejoices in my relinquishing of what tenuous control I think I have over my life. It admits that I as a human am frail and weary and cannot do it all. And that is ok.

We're not meant to do it all, to be constantly on the go, never re-charging our mental, physical, and spiritual batteries. The spinning of this planet does not depend on us; if we were not here, it would spin on. This is an uncomfortable truth. We all like the assurance that we are irreplaceable, that we are important. But our importance does not lie in what we do, but in who we are.

And that's where the waste of a Sunday comes in. Sunday, or your choice of a day for a Sabbath, reveals our frailty. It reminds us gently that we are broken, unable. It invites us to waste time by slowing down, looking around, enjoying the pleasures of the world around us. Sabbath embraces us with the arms of the Beloved, who with good gifts shows us that we too are the Beloved.

It may be a waste of time, but if it reminds me of who I am, then I'm all for it. May your Sabbath, whatever day that may be, be a glorious waste of time!