In a society that is overworked, overextended and overwhelmed, Sabbath is the antidote. Rest, restoration, life.

Today's Friday favorite is a quote on Sabbath that really challenges our (and my) need to produce in order to be valued or loved (neither of which are the truth or basis of God's love of us.)

Friday Favorite: Sabbath Is...

“Sabbath is
…taking a day a week to remind myself that I did not make the world and that it will continue to exist without my efforts.
…a day when my work is done, even if it isn’t.
…a day when my job is to enjoy. Period.
…a day when I am fully available to myself and those I love most.
…a day when I remember that when God made the world, he saw that it was good.
…a day when I produce nothing.
…a day when at the end I say, ‘I didn’t do anything today,’ and I don’t add, ‘And I feel so guilty.’
…a day when my phone is turned off, I don’t check my email, and you can’t get a hold of me.”

(from Rob Bell. Velvet Elvis. Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2005, p. 117-18.)

I hope that each of you have found rest and solace during the waiting spaces of Advent, and that Christmas and Epiphany have burst upon you with joy, even in those places within you that are exiled or hurting.

This new year is a time of fresh starts and new beginnings, when we (or at least I know *I*) look forward with hope at what is to come. We make plans to change, we think about our desires and consider the ordering of our days.

One of my favorite poems to read to my directees is also a poem that I read to myself quite regularly. As I embark on this new year, this second Friday of 2010, I need to reminder that while I may make plans and partner with God to pursue honorable and good ends, there is more at work than I realize. That hope can energize me, but it need not push me toward frenetic activity or hardened expectation. It is a reminder that we are all in process, and that process may indeed be slow. And that is a good thing.

Friday Favorite: Patient Trust by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin