Day 14 #formationFOUNDATIONS | Keeping a Time of Sabbath
Today is the fourteenth day of our #formationFOUNDATIONS series. In case you're new here, you can read more about this series or start from the beginning at SacredOrdinaryDays.com/FF. Our goal for this series is to help you...
- LEARN about different spiritual practices that you can adopt for your own walk. You will learn how to make the most of your Sacred Ordinary Days planner or the FREE Essentials Workbook you got when you joined our newsletter list, which has all the most essential pages from the planner that we don't want anyone to miss out on.
- PRACTICE these things on a daily, weekly, seasonally and yearly schedule. You will be able to lay (or bolster up) a strong spiritual formation foundation by clearing the space for your new spiritual practices to deepen.
- SHARE your experience with people who speak the same language. You'll get to know the other members of our community, who are some of the wisest, most interesting, super fun, and most real people I know by following along on Instagram or Facebook or inside Common House, our ecumenical online community.
Day 14 | Keeping a Sabbath
Intentional spaces of rest help quiet the mind, heart, spirit, and body. They restore and rejuvenate us. Most of all, they remind us that our humanity is a gift given to us by God.
A regular practice of Sabbath honors our limits and allows space for a deepening experience of trust in God. When we willingly release control, our inclination toward self-sufficiency is gently removed. With unclenched fists, our own striving and tending fades. As we open our hands, we entrust our lives and our world to God again each week.
The practice of Sabbath is not one that is meant to bring us guilt or shame, though sometimes we feel that way when we aren't doing it the "right" way. But there is not a single right way of practicing the Sabbath nor is there a single day. For many, Sunday is a natural day for rest, worship, prayer, and play. But for those who work on Sunday, for those in shift work, nursing, retail, or ministry, it is not a day that inclines itself to the space for those things. So what alternative day or time can you find for your time of Sabbath? How do you intentionally schedule a time for Sabbath so that it doesn't fall away from your week?
One of our podcasts from Season 1 focused on Sabbath. Lacy and I share why practicing sabbath is meaningful as well as what our practices look like. Lacy also shares her approach to "cease and feast."
Listen below, through iTunes, or your favorite podcasting app.
We have included a Sabbath page each week in the planner to help you notice and cultivate this practice in your life. While it shares space with the Sunday page, you do not need to take your Sabbath on Sunday. We've intentionally added Sunday's details at the bottom, so that no matter what day you take Sabbath, you can use the top of the page without feeling like you're not doing it correctly.
Each Sabbath page features a quote that is meant to engage your emotions, thoughts, and actions. The quotes are primarily Judeo-Christian voices in a variety of texts, hymns, songs, and chants. You may connect with some quotes more than others. Consider the invitation each might extend to you.
Use this space to journal, jot down your reactions on the lectionary passages, draw, doodle, or simply be reminded of the importance of incorporating lots of “white space” into your life through a practice of Sabbath-keeping. Use the lined section of the Sabbath page can be used for journaling, a to-do list, or writing out a Scripture passage. It was designed for flexibility.
Choose three priorities for the day. If you are taking this Sunday as a Sabbath, your three priorities might be to worship, to play, and to rest.
Now it is your turn ...
What is your practice of Sabbath? When do you hold your time of Sabbath? What challenges do you face in intentionally scheduling it each week? How would you like your Sabbath to change?
If you want to share your experience on social media with us today, head over to Instagram or Facebook using #formationFOUNDATIONS and tag us @sacredordinarydays, please! Or, join the conversation inside Common House, our ecumenical online community.
This is the third week of our Formation Foundation series and will focus on Weekly Practices. We'll always share the latest blog post in the series at sacredordinarydays.com/FF when it's live. So, check there each day for the latest!
If you'd like to use the planner alongside us, you can order one today or get August for $4. You might even already have a planner, either the new Academic year or the previous Liturgical year. If not, today's the day to order yours since they just started on August 1st.