Sabbath Slowdown

On today's episode we continue our discussion about Sabbath being necessary and if we don't take this important day of rest, we will be forced to one way or another. 

Today we discuss the importance of preparing for the Sabbath and how it can really hurt your upcoming week if you don't schedule throughout this week. 

"You will Sabbath through choice or by force."  This is true of rest. If we do not rest, we will be forced to rest. Our bodies and minds will force us.  So what other things in life require rest--so much so that it will be forced if neglected? This episode explores the idea that we can and should choose to rest from certain things in our life before we are forced to take a rest.  

This episode is the first in awhile and it feels good to be back!

Instead of longer episodes weekly, how would you like a shorter episode everyday? This is the new normal here at the Sabbath Slowdown! We'll skip Sabbath of course, so enjoy that day, but otherwise, I hope you'll tune in for the Sabbath Slowdown Monday through Friday. 

They say, "If you want the next 12 months to be different from the last, don’t carry your baggage into the new year." 

This episode is about leaving that heavy baggage behind, so you can enjoy your Sabbath this and every week. 

// Show Notes //

In many ways Sabbath has become a memorial instead of a celebration.

Instead of celebrating relationships, rest, peace, and love, we memorialize the life we mourn.

We’re exhausted and have to rest instead of celebrating a day we get to rest.

Instead of celebrating the fullness of life, we memorialize the empty.

So how can we move from emptiness to fullness? How can we bring our Sabbath from dead to alive again?

Just like we're duped by the calendar every April 1st and duped by the holiday schedule driving our retail stores, we've also been duped about Sabbath. 

I was duped by an idea of Sabbath that was never meant to be.

We have all been duped about the most beautiful gift ever given to us...Sabbath rest.

Discover lies you've believed about Sabbath and more on this week's episode. 

Have you ever felt you were heading toward a disaster? Have you ever seen yourself moving toward something (or someone) that might wreck you?

Truth be told, when you’re in a problematic relationship, it can steal your joy and steal your peace everyday, including Sabbath.

So, I’ve covered here on the podcast how Sabbath is not only for Christians. Sabbath is for everyone.

Today I’m here to tell you that peacemaking with others is not only for Christians. Restoring relationships is for everyone, and here is the only way I know how to do it.

Resources about forgiveness:

The Sabbath is often misunderstood as an inconvenience.

If you’re new to the concept of Sabbath, I hope you realize the whole point of this podcast is to take off the restrictions that make Sabbath so inconvenient. The point is to show a whole new picture of the Sabbath to a world that is desperate for it. The picture of the Sabbath is this: it is FOR YOU. It is for EVERYONE.

When you begin practicing Sabbath, though, it's like dropping a bomb into your life. It's not an inconvenient bomb, but more a gigantic ball of the happiest colors of biodegradable confetti dropped right into the saddest parts of your life. 

Sabbath isn't an inconvenience. It's a game changer. 

Prepare for impact. 

Throughout history its popularity has waxed and waned. Changed by people and then governments, heavily governed and then forgotten. 

Something has happened in recent years to bring the Sabbath back. 

What happened? Hustle-culture happened. Media multi-tasking happened. Fast food, fast track, fast lives happened. 

And so, like never before, we need a Sabbath rest. 

What if peace is just impossible on your Sabbath? It’s your living situation or your family relationships. It’s a past trauma sneaking in to rear its ugly head and trigger you again and again. It’s that the rest of your family doesn’t care about Sabbath.

It’s a messy house, cluttered, in disrepair. You’re living far from your family and have no help with the kids.

I have to wonder how ancient Sabbath-keepers might have experienced peace on Sabbath.

Even if you have a lot going on and not a lot of it is peaceful, the Sabbath can still help you! But, we make a habit of making excuses that stand in the way of our peace.

Let's work through them together and find peace no matter what's going on when it's Sabbath. 

**SHOW NOTES**

If you’ve experienced trauma, like so many of us have, you can recover as well. You can experience success after all.

According to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, 70% of adults in the U.S. have experienced a traumatic event in their lives. I’m part of that 70% and many of you listening may be as well.

Fortunately for me, my trauma is all in the past. I’ve moved from it and grown from it. So, if you’re new to trauma, and you have been touched by something that gutted you the way only a traumatic experience can, I hope this episode helps you find rest after trauma.

**SHOW NOTES**

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Lebanese-American essayist has said “the difference between technology and slavery is that slaves are fully aware that they are not free.”

I wonder if you’ve felt the truth of that statement. When you have nothing to do for only a moment, you reach for your phone. When you’re alone for just a moment, or not alone at all, you reach for it.

So this week we’re going to examine our technology use. Don’t stop the podcast! Don’t run away. There is a lot of wisdom to be found in the little tool you hold in your hand or in your pocket. There is a lot of wisdom and information on the internet. There is value to that automated coffee pot on your counter.

This episode will be about examining our technology use. That’s all. Don’t worry.

** SHOW NOTES **

A Digital Sabbath

This week I found myself marveling at how we add so many things to our schedule as part of our New Year’s Resolution. Instead of relaxing and finding spaces of peace and rest, we constantly have this pressure to add to our workload, add to our schedule, and add to our emotional labor. 

If you experience signs of symptoms of physical, emotional, spiritual, or professional burnout, you won't want to miss this episode. 

**show notes**