Sabbath is an old word.  In its original form in Hebrew the word meant Seventh Day and referred to the Seventh Day of Creation when God rested from creating.  The earliest layers of Hebrew Law established the seventh day of the week, Friday night until Saturday at sundown, as the seventh or Sabbath day.  It was a day given for rest and recreation.  The day was intended as a gift for God’s people to lay aside their weekly pursuits and find joy in living.  Other religious traditions developed similar days of rest.  The actual day and frequency would vary, but the central purpose remained.  It was to be a day of rest and renewal.  It was to be a day when we were to just enjoy life.

But as our civilizations developed (I could say advanced but this would be misleading) we could not leave well enough alone.  A whole day was a terrible thing to waste on doing nothing but enjoying life.  And so we gradually transformed the day into a day of work, religious work.  We began to attach rules and regulations so that our sisters and brothers “sabbathed” well.   You could not light a fire but you could blow on a glowing coal.  The limits of how far one could walk was clearly delineated.  Everyone was obligated to attend some sort of religious ritual either at home or with the community.  (I guess you get the picture.)  Humanity is so uncomfortable with just being and enjoying life that we have to turn even Sabbath into Sabbath-keeping, a doing with strict rules and regulations.

The picture above is from one of the holiest moments of Sabbath that I can remember.  We had pulled over on the side of the road in Arizona when the Sun started to set.  I looked for just the right spot and was searching for the right moment to click the shutter.  There are a whole series of pictures prior to this shot as I adjusted this setting and changed positions.  I was very busy doing photography.  But when this shot came into view my finger pressed the shutter one last time.  I stood transfixed beside my tripod.  That moment so overwhelmed me that I was no longer interested in taking a picture.  I simply wanted to be there to share in that holy moment.

Sabbath has less to do with keeping the seventh day, than does with being overwhelmed with the sacredness of a moment.  The Hebrew Scriptures declare that when God had finished creation, God stepped back and declared it “Very Good.”  I imagine God being so overwhelmed with creation that God simply wanted to be with it, in that holy moment.  The commandment that flowed out of that moment is “Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy!”  Maintain the sacredness of that moment in time when the beauty and grandeur of life overwhelmed your common, everyday experiences of it.

Do not hide behind your work, whether it be secular or sacred.

Expose yourself to the glory of the sunrise and sunset.

Fill your soul with the joy of being in a deep and lasting relationship.

Bathe in the blessedness that comes from simply being part of creation.

Whether you are religious or not, “Remember the Sabbath!”  It is a gift from the very heart of creation.

Bob