Streams of Mercy

This tear’s Horizon Bible Study for Presbyterian Women is challenging! “Celebrating Sabbath” is a topic few of us have explored, and this year’s study calls us to do just that, by opening our hearts and our minds to God and to each other.

While we may have “studied” Sabbath, few of us have embraced it as a way of marking time in our lives. In the Old Testament we learned of strict sabbath laws, rules and regulations that sounded a strong “NO” to our understanding of sabbath. In the New Testament, while Jesus honors sabbath, he expands understanding and expectation of sabbath into something more – a resounding “YES”!

Carol Bechtel, who created this study, teaches “Sabbath is not a burden, it is a blessing – a celebration that has the potential to reform and redirect all our ways of living.” She quotes Henri Nouwen’s words: “You don’t think your way into a new kind of living, but you live your way into a new kind of thinking.” We are being called to live our way into a new way of thinking about Sabbath. – a gift God has been waiting to give us for a long time. Accepting God’s gift of sabbath is where to start!

One of sabbath’s richest gifts if peace – “shalom.” Shalom/peace also means healing, health and wholeness. Few of us know how to stop the speeding train of our lives; we need healing from burnout and exhaustion; from feeling swamped and overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to keep up with life’s demands. Bechtel reminds us that if we aren’t willing to put down all we are holding in our hands, we won’t be able to receive what God would give to us. The benefits of sabbath reach beyond self-care to benefit all of human life. We are challenged to create a “cathedral in time”, a space for sabbath in our busy lives.

We’re encouraged to take “baby steps” : a walk in the woods, lighting a candle and listening to music, sitting on a park bench – exploring ways of accepting God’s gift of sabbath. “What might it look like for you to accept God’s invitation to sabbath rest and delight?”

Elizabeth