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The world has grown crazier than usual; life as we knew it has tilted and won’t right itself. This takes energy to process and navigate, energy we’d rather pour into work or study, into cherished relationships and communities. More people seem to be growing sick, or breaking bones, or losing heart and dying. It’s hard on the heart and soul to carry all this, to keep going forward each day with faithfulness, courage and grace.
We remind ourselves that God remains sovereign, that Jesus is Lord. Christ’s Spirit keeps working creatively and vibrantly through us, in our parishes and service organizations, amid our camps and campus ministries. We watch for and often find the helpers and the God moments, glimpses of hope and positive change. We count our blessings. Yet the weight of it all still encumbers the soul. Even breathing deeply takes more attention and time.
Some days I want to scream for it all to stop, for everyone to step back and just wait. Then I remember: though I can’t make the world pause, I can choose a different rhythm for myself with God’s help by honoring and embracing the gift of sabbath. Our Lord commanded sabbath not only that we might take one day in seven for worship and praise, thanksgiving and communion, yet also that we would take that wholly holy day to stop and lay it all down: the lists, responsibilities and unrelenting details; the conflicts and sheer craziness of the world. We’re called to let one day in seven nourish our spirits with community, as we surrender life’s burdens and recall we’re but creatures—mortal, fragile, yet deeply beloved.
However busy you’ve become, however important your role or leadership, I adjure you to make more time for sabbath worship, rest and play over the coming months. Invite a friend to come with you to church. Linger at coffee hour to greet a new member. Set aside screens and sit with the sun on your face. Plan a picnic with loved ones. Reread your favorite Scriptures and favorite books. Take a long walk in a tree-shaded park with a dear friend. Pray together with a family member or prayer partner. Invite your neighbors over for dinner. Sing a silly song with little ones, or hold the frail hands of beloved elders, letting your touch and your presence become a song of love.
Taking weekly sabbath time grounds us in godly play and refuels us for the demanding work yet ahead.
Whatever your age, rise up and dance at the wedding reception, anniversary gala or block party, even if you don’t have a partner. Be the joyful, bold one who invites others to the dance floor or who starts the conga line. Yes, you can!
Taking weekly sabbath time grounds us in godly play and refuels us for the demanding work yet ahead. Amid this oppressive season, we’d do well to interweave sabbath pauses even within each day, strategic moments of laughter and quiet, of prayer and spaciousness.
During a particularly intense evening while preparing for a fundraiser, tempers were growing short. One of my young alumni, a member of the planning team, stopped everything and said matter-of-factly, “We need to pray.” She led us in a short yet beautiful petition, asking God’s blessing upon the event and for a spirit of cooperation and peace. It stopped me in my tracks. Her prayer drew us out of a frenzied fuss into a united sabbath space of looking to Jesus and seeking his face. Her courage and clarity realigned the evening as we focused on Christ’s presence.
Even as the world’s craziness intensifies, remember that small, daily acts of invitation, play, prayer and connection can reinvent and redirect someone else’s day by allowing others to feel seen, included, heard—even loved. Gentle summons and timely prayers, quiet walks and dance-filled entrances, Sabbath slivers alight with God’s love just might save the day. Trust that our Gentle Shepherd can use the tiniest gestures born of love to communicate holy grace and to send out ripples of peace-building hope beyond our knowing.
