Days 303-304 – “Portable Sabbath”

"Prayer is like a portable Sabbath, when we close our eyes for just a moment and let the mind rest in the heart." – Wayne Muller

What is a Sabbath other than a time to "let the mind rest in the heart?" What traditional Sabbath times can do is teach you that any day and any moment can be sacred.

"The world seduces us with an artificial urgency," Muller writes. That urgency "requires us to respond without listening to what is most deeply true."

I was born at high noon on a Halloween Sunday (also celebrated as Protestant Reformation Day.) It was a fun birthday as a kid (dressed as a clown on my 4th birthday with scrapbook notes from my mother.) The clown and cowboy outfits were fun. But, I never liked the ghoulish images that pockmark that holiday and always wondered why so many people enjoy masks covered with blood and people dressed to terrify us. When I began working in a hospital in 1975 the skeleton costumes and gore-covered Draculas grew even more distasteful.

I have often let the "noise" around Halloween interfere with celebrating my birthday as a personal Sabbath. That may happen to you on your own birthday. The day is sacred yet you may not experience it that way.

What is most "deeply true" about your life? What do you want to become more true? What would happen if you looked beneath the "artificial urgency" of the world's demands?

From the horror of a Nazi concentration camp Ette Hillesum sends you a diary entry: "Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and reflect it towards others."

When is your Sabbath? What about now?

-Erie Chapman

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Categories: Reflections, Holidays, Spirituality

Tags: caregivers, Erie Chapman, Ette Hillesum, Halloween, Radical Loving Care, Sabbath, Wayne Muller

7 responses to “Days 303-304 – “Portable Sabbath””

~liz Wessel

October 31, 2013 at 8:37 am

Happy birthday, Erie I wish for you a magical peace-filled day. The questions you pose take us to such a lovely threshold. Thank you for this blessed invitation and may Love’s peace be reflected back to you one thousand fold as you experience the sacredness of your special Sabbath.
Namaste, peace, love, and joy,
~liz

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Maria Doglio

October 31, 2013 at 11:13 am

That last reflection has become my mission. It’s the perspective I needed for focus to really change my life–I knew this intuitively, but the words manifest that! It perfectly sums up what I now want as a way of living for me now. Thank you Erie, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

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Cheri Cancelliere

October 31, 2013 at 1:16 pm

As I contemplated the true meaning of the Sabbath, I became aware that this pause, this time of reflection, has more to do with holiness than a break from everyday routine. The Sabbath is really about mercy. In ancient Israel, even the animals had a day of rest. It’s also a time for gratitude and joy. God rested and called his creation good!
“Just as joy is more than the absence of sorrow, the Sabbath is more than cessation of labor. Resting in bed all day does not amount to a keeping of the Sabbath. The Sabbath is to be a delight and joy” (Baker’s Dictionary of Theology).
Thank you, Erie, for reminding us that each day is a gift and that we carry the Sabbath with us when we rest in love, show mercy and express joyful gratitude for God’s goodness. I thank God for the gift of YOU and I wish you a wonderful birthday filled with the peace that passes all understanding.
Blessings!
Cheri

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Stephanie

October 31, 2013 at 8:20 pm

Happy Birthday, Erie! Thanks for this sacred space, where we can ponder the holy together. I can relate to your hesitance about the ghoulishness of Halloween; my faith tradition instead honors those who have gone before us to come visit for a bit on Halloween, and remember those who have inspired us.
I love your thought about a portable sabbath. A dear friend just invited me to read the book, “Mudhouse Sabbath”, by Lauren F. Winner. Lauren was raised Jewish, and converted to being an Episcopalian as an adult. She has found that her Jewish roots give her much richness, and is celebrating quietness and spiritual openness of the Sabbath within the entirety of her spirituality now. I recommend it!

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sbeng

October 31, 2013 at 9:31 pm

Happy Birthday Erie: May you on this day enjoy this hymn: “This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, we will rejoice, we will rejoice and be glad in it”. Thank you for sharing with us that amid the demands of daily life we can enter this “sacred space” anytime, enjoy His Presence and Peace and may we learn to reflect this to others.

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sbeng

October 31, 2013 at 9:37 pm

Erie: Happy Birthday. On this day may you enjoy this hymn: “This is the day, this is the day that the Lord has made, we will Rejoice, we will Rejoice, we will Rejoice and be glad in it.”. We rejoice with you. Thank you for sharing with us as we me meet the demands of daily life we can still turn to our sacred space and reflect on His Peace and learn to reflect it to others.

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Maureen McDermott rsj

October 31, 2013 at 11:40 pm

By now I guesss Erie your birthday is a past event, yet the memories will linger on as you continue to savour the wonderful gifts of Life and the Life that you are to so many. Thank you for your reflections on Sabbath. Yes, everyday can be a sabbath if we allow ourselves to create that space where we can go and ‘be’. I hope your birthday was rich in blessings for you Erie. May our good God continue to enwrap you in loving care.

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