Sabbath

I am confident that I just read one of the most profound and life changing books – Sabbath: Finding Rest, Renewal and Delight in Our Busy Lives by Wayne Muller. It contains so much wisdom that I had to often stop reading to digest what Muller had so richly surmised. My copy is full of underlined phrases and notes in the margins. Here is just a s sampling of what this book includes:

Page 1 – Poisond by the hypnotic belief that good things come only through unceasing determination and tireless effort, we can never truly rest.
Page 3 – Our lack of rest and reflection is not just a personal affliction. It colors the way we build and sustain community, it dictates the way we respond to suffering, and it shapes the ways in which we seek peace and healing in the world.
Page 10 – If we do not allow for a rhythm of rest in our overly busy lives, illness becomes our Sabbath – our pneumonia, our cancer, our heart attack, our accidents create Sabbath for us.
Page 41 – Sabbath rest invites us to step back, and see that it is good.
Page 43 – All Jesus’ teaching seems to hinge on this sigular truth concerning the nature of life: it is all right. “Do not worry about tomorrow. I have come that you might have life abundantly.”
Page 55 – Sabbath time is enriched by some period of intentional silence.
Page 69 – When we rest, we can relish the seasons of a moment, a day, a conversation.
Page 82 – Sabbath is not dependent upon our readiness to stop… Sabbath requires surrender.
Page 84 – Henri (Nouwen) believed that a spiritual life was a pilgrimage from absurdity to obedience – from deafness to listening.
Page 101 – The Sabbath is a revolutionary invitation to consider that fruits of our labor may found in the restful and unhurried harvest of time. In time, we can taste the sweetness of peace, serenity, well-being and delight.
Page 126 – The more hurried and rushed we are, the more we are willing to trade happiness for desire – and, over time, the less we are able to discern the difference between the two.
Page 169 – We must take care to ensure that when we seek to do service, charity and social action, we carry a fragrance of tranquility.
Page 176 – We are most human when we do no great. We are not so important; we are simply dust and spirit – at best, loving midwives, participants in a process much larger than we… But in the end, we are not granted the tremendous blessing of knowing that we do very litle at all by ourselves.
Page 202 – In Sabbath time we bless what there is for being.

WOW, huh? Pretty powerful. I really hope you check this book out. It is amazing.