Dear Friends in Christ,

The bible teaches us that sabbath comes in cycles. We all know about the idea of the weekly sabbath, grounded in the book of Genesis and God’s choice to rest on the seventh day of creation. Sabbath (or the vestige of it) is ingrained in our culture in ways big and small.

But the weekly sabbath is not the only cycle. The book of Deuteronomy teaches that sabbath is also practiced over a period of years, with the seventh year being a year when debts are forgiven and indentured servants are freed. It even promises the Jubilee Year—the fiftieth year, after seven cycles of seven years—when the economic life of society as a whole gets a hard reset.

Where are you in the cycle of sabbath?

Most of us know what day of the week it is and whether we have gotten adequate rest. But we are less likely to think about the larger patterns of our life. Have we been able to dig deep—really deep—to restore ourselves and our relationship with God?

Here at the beginning of summer, we are invited to rest. It is more than simply catching your breath. Perhaps your way of being needs to be reset from patterns months or even years in the making. Perhaps you need to let go of your burdens not just for a day but for a season.

I am aware that for some of us, church is a place of busyness. Here, there are conversations to be had, emails to be sent, obligations to be fulfilled. The people of Grace commit deeply, and commitment requires work. But work is made possible and given meaning by the counterpoint of rest.

I hope that you will give yourselves (and so give one another) the gift of sabbath in this season. It’s not only acceptable but good to allow our life to slow down. Some examples? We’ll be having drinks only at fellowship hour after the 10:30 service to provide our volunteers a break. The 7:30 service has moved to the Lady Altar, giving our adult acolytes rest. Our office is open for fewer hours in trust that the pace of our life can quiet.

Slowness creates space. And what fills that space? Conversations. Laughter. Silence. Prayer. The Holy Spirit.

I wish you sabbath—this week, the season, woven throughout your life.

Yours in Christ,
Anne+