“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor, and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.”
– Exodus 20:8-11
For the last two weekends, I have left my time completely unscheduled.
It’s not quite a traditional Shabbat… but it is amazing.
A free weekend is already a rarity in “the city that never sleeps,” and for those who know me – you know it’s a small miracle.
No plans.
No rodas.
No travel.
No obligations.
Just… rest. And time.
Time to read, time to pray, time to sit in a coffeeshop and just write for hours with nowhere to be, nowhere to rush off to, no need to check the clock and calculate subway times. The day seems to last forever… unhurried, free, open for coffee with friends, phone calls with family, or just time to sit and reflect and re-connect with God.
No, I probably won’t observe it dogmatically or even consistently. But I may be a little more hesitant to fill up all my weekends with tons of stuff. I’m finally starting to appreciate the beauty of Shabbat.
“Shabbat is like nothing else. Time as we know it does not exist for these twenty-four hours, and the worries of the week soon fall away. A feeling of joy appears. The smallest object, a leaf or a spoon, shimmers in a soft light, and the heart opens. Shabbat is a meditation of unbelievable beauty.”
– Nan Fink, Stranger in the Midst
