Sabbath
14/10/12 05:24
We live in a world of constant information and connection. We carry mobile devices that make us accessible to others and keep us informed of the latest happenings in the news. The distinction between working and not working is growing thin. Office workers used to bring work home in their briefcases. These days we carry work with us wherever we go. I am as guilty of this as the next person. Because I do some volunteer work for the sheriff’s department, I am “on call” for a week once a month. I have developed the habit of keeping my cell phone on the headboard of my bed. When I rise in the morning, I grab the phone and keep it with me throughout the day. About the only place the phone doesn’t go with me is into the shower. Even then, it sits on the bathroom counter where I could easily hear its ring. I have stepped out of the shower to answer the phone on occasion.
I know that my behavior is not completely atypical. It is increasingly common for young adults to remain constantly connected to their mobile devices. I am not very active on twitter or facebook. I don’t keep up the constant connection to social media, but there are those who are constantly monitoring those sites. I’ve frequently had the experience of posting an announcement on one of those sites and receiving an immediate reply.
I think that things are even more intense for people in their twenties and thirties. They are starting their adult lives in the midst of a shortage of decent-paying jobs and an atmosphere of fear about unemployment. They do not feel valued in their employment and carry worries about debt and financial problems with themselves wherever they go. Their mobile devices keep them constantly on a tether to their work and advise them about the condition of their financial affairs on a minute-to-minute basis. There is never a time when they can let down their guard and relax.
It’s no wonder that many young adults struggle with depression, anxiety and disconnection that come with living at a breakneck pace.
There is an ancient truth about this that our people learned many generations ago. It offers relief for us all. You already know the story. Our people were struggling with the concept of freedom. After generations of living as slaves we were led out of Egypt by Moses. We had dreamed of freedom for so long that we were eager to embrace it. But we didn’t know how to live as free people. And life in the wilderness was no picnic. We were constantly worried about what to eat, where to find water, what to wear, how to survive. Squabbles and disagreements broke out among the people that demanded constant attention and judgment by our leaders. Being a free people was much more work than we had envisioned. We had groaned under the weight of enforced labor when we lived in Egypt, but the workdays weren’t any shorter trying to survive in the wilderness.
In the midst of those trying times, we received commandments from God to guide us on our path toward freedom. One of those commandments was to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. It was, to be sure, a spiritual commandment. It also was a lesson in practical living. Each week can be punctuated by a day of conscious abstaining from the distracting, the noisy and the ordinary. Instead, our people are invited to carve out time to focus on family, community, relaxation and reflection. For at least one seventh of our lives, we can put away our wallets, park our cars, shut down our digital devises and try our best to live like we already have everything we need to be happy and fulfilled.
I have caught myself thinking that I need to have more. I look at the balances in my retirement savings and feel that I need to save more. I look at the items that are for sale and I think I want to acquire more. I make a grocery list and head to the store to replenish the supplies in the pantry and I want to have more. There is a serious problem with the desire to have more. It cannot be fulfilled. No matter how much I save, no matter how much I acquire, the desire for more cannot be satisfied. The solution is to learn to be happy with what I have.
I am not a big shopper on any day of the week. I don’t spend much time in stores. But I know that there is a 24-hour grocery store between my home and the church and I have been known to stop for supplies on any day of the week. My need to have constant shopping available contributes to the situation that requires the employees of the store to work in the middle of the night and on Sundays. Of course I’m not a big enough customer to dictate store hours, but it is for the convenience of people like me that the store stays open.
The commandment is simple: spend one day consciously avoiding technology and commerce. Instead refocus on life’s simpler joys. Instead of counting Twitter followers and Facebook friends, spend time with community members and loved ones. In place of the constant barrage of information and responsibilities, one day could give room to breathe.
Of course, in order to preach about such a practice, I would have to make some changes in my life. Here it is Sunday. I was at the keyboard of my computer at 4:30 a.m. I’ll drive to work with my cell phone on and will check my e-mail before finalizing my worship notes. By the end of the day after three worship services for which I have leadership responsibility and a concert after which I am responsible for securing the building, I’ll be exhausted. With no specific dinner plan, I may stop by the grocery store on my way home to buy something to prepare. In my own defense, I don’t try to make Sunday my day of Sabbath with all of the responsibilities I have for worship leadership. But Monday is supposed to be my day off as well and I often find myself in a store or checking my e-mail on my day off.
It isn’t just young adults who need to heed the commandment. It is all of us. Despite the experience of thousands of years of our people, there is still much that I have yet to learn.
I know that my behavior is not completely atypical. It is increasingly common for young adults to remain constantly connected to their mobile devices. I am not very active on twitter or facebook. I don’t keep up the constant connection to social media, but there are those who are constantly monitoring those sites. I’ve frequently had the experience of posting an announcement on one of those sites and receiving an immediate reply.
I think that things are even more intense for people in their twenties and thirties. They are starting their adult lives in the midst of a shortage of decent-paying jobs and an atmosphere of fear about unemployment. They do not feel valued in their employment and carry worries about debt and financial problems with themselves wherever they go. Their mobile devices keep them constantly on a tether to their work and advise them about the condition of their financial affairs on a minute-to-minute basis. There is never a time when they can let down their guard and relax.
It’s no wonder that many young adults struggle with depression, anxiety and disconnection that come with living at a breakneck pace.
In the midst of those trying times, we received commandments from God to guide us on our path toward freedom. One of those commandments was to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. It was, to be sure, a spiritual commandment. It also was a lesson in practical living. Each week can be punctuated by a day of conscious abstaining from the distracting, the noisy and the ordinary. Instead, our people are invited to carve out time to focus on family, community, relaxation and reflection. For at least one seventh of our lives, we can put away our wallets, park our cars, shut down our digital devises and try our best to live like we already have everything we need to be happy and fulfilled.
I have caught myself thinking that I need to have more. I look at the balances in my retirement savings and feel that I need to save more. I look at the items that are for sale and I think I want to acquire more. I make a grocery list and head to the store to replenish the supplies in the pantry and I want to have more. There is a serious problem with the desire to have more. It cannot be fulfilled. No matter how much I save, no matter how much I acquire, the desire for more cannot be satisfied. The solution is to learn to be happy with what I have.
I am not a big shopper on any day of the week. I don’t spend much time in stores. But I know that there is a 24-hour grocery store between my home and the church and I have been known to stop for supplies on any day of the week. My need to have constant shopping available contributes to the situation that requires the employees of the store to work in the middle of the night and on Sundays. Of course I’m not a big enough customer to dictate store hours, but it is for the convenience of people like me that the store stays open.
The commandment is simple: spend one day consciously avoiding technology and commerce. Instead refocus on life’s simpler joys. Instead of counting Twitter followers and Facebook friends, spend time with community members and loved ones. In place of the constant barrage of information and responsibilities, one day could give room to breathe.
It isn’t just young adults who need to heed the commandment. It is all of us. Despite the experience of thousands of years of our people, there is still much that I have yet to learn.