The First Step Is Slowing Down - The Sabbath Way: Finding the Rest Your Soul Craves

“Be still, and know that I am God! I will be honored by every nation. I will be honored throughout the world.” (Psalm 46:10, NLT)

“So I decided there is nothing better than to enjoy food and drink and to find satisfaction in work. Then I realized that these pleasures are from the hand of God. For who can eat or enjoy anything apart from him?” (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25, NLT)

Have you ever parked your car then looked around and wondered how you got there, your mind having been so preoccupied that you have no memory of your commute? Do you ever wake up in the morning feeling behind even before you check your phone for messages or look at your calendar? Does your life sometimes feel like you’re carrying eleven passengers in an eight-passenger van?

Does it feel like your life is so full that you aren’t actually living it, like you’re paddleboarding over your life and looking down at it through the turbulent surface of the water, not really sure what’s happening but nevertheless feeling a compulsion to keep paddling toward some vague shoreline?

This compulsion to always move forward and do more, one that resists stopping to reflect, reconsider, or even breathe, was insightfully captured by the author Ronald Rolheiser. He describes our culture’s spiritual illness as resulting from “pathological busyness, distraction, and restlessness.”

We pursue busyness to feel important. We’ve given our time and attention to social media apps whose success is dependent upon our sustained distractibility. And we are restless because we’ve lost touch with what we love and what brings us delight. We are disconnected from ourselves, each other, and the earth, so we have forgotten how to be fully present in one place at one time. As a result, we are speechless in the face of poet T. S. Eliot’s existential question: “Where is the Life we have lost in living?”

The Sabbath offers an antidote to each symptom of our current dis-ease. It’s first invitation is to slow down. Sabbath reminds us that our worth is not dependent on what we do or produce, how many likes we get, or the clothes and cars we can afford. Our worth derives from being created in God’s image. Nothing we do can add to or subtract from that. It is okay to slow down. Slowing down is the first and most important step along the journey back to wholeness, what I call the Sabbath way.

One antidote to distraction is to turn off your devices and put them away on the Sabbath. Then actively cultivate presence by paying attention to when, why, and how often you want to reach for your phone. Instead of scrolling social media, journal about your loneliness and how you seek connection in ways that lead to further isolation or disconnection.

Finally, spend time on the Sabbath doing something that makes you feel vibrantly alive. I love hiking and photography. I feel alive and joyful when I’m moving outside and searching for beauty and wonder through the lens of my camera. What about you? Maybe you love solving puzzles, reading a book by the fireplace, listening to an album straight through, or calling your family or your best friend for an unhurried chat. Whatever it is that you love, when you make room for it and are fully present to it, contentment and gratitude grow. You may even find an answer to Eliot’s question, as your life returns to you in the midst of your delight.

If you found this plan helpful and are intrigued by what a Sabbath-oriented life might look like, you can find out more about the Sabbath and how to practice it in my book The Sabbath Way.