Moments

Have you heard of the word Sabbath?

It means rest.

Jewish tradition observes Sabbath on Saturday’s, the seventh day of the week as do some Christians.

Most Christians observe Sunday as their day of rest. Some take a different day of rest.

No matter what religion you practice or even if you are not religious at all, many people still realize that they need a day off.

People who work 7 days a week often burn out quickly.

This week, the word rest had resonated with me. In my reading I came across a chapter in “The Jesus Centered Life” that talks about micro-Sabbath moments. Essentially, taking small moments in your day to observe peace.  Stop what you’re doing and see what you notice; take time to listen to what God might be trying to show you. Now when was the last time you did that?

This past, week I’ve tried and it’s been a pretty cool experience. I’ve taken the long way home a few times to notice the fall leaves changing colours (don’t mind my Canadian spelling :). I’ve taken some amazing photos of some of the beauty that surrounds me that I may not have noticed had I not been looking.

I’ve turned off the podcasts and the music and turned to classical or simply turned all the noise off. Now that actually can feel a bit weird at first but it’s amazing how rested and peaceful I felt after. I had time to process a lot of the difficult things going on in my world. I’ve had time to pray and talk to God and ask Him some questions.

Our world is moving so fast. “Tech 21 Century” states that people receive about 105,000 words per day into our ears during waking hours. The “Times of London”, believes that people are inundated with the equivalent amount of 34 gigabytes of information, a sufficient quantity to overload a laptop in a week. That’s a lot going in. And we wonder why our society is overwhelmed and stressed. Anxiety is at an all time high. Who cares what Pepsi, the latest talk shows or the Kardashians have to say? We need to learn to turn off our brains throughout the day. Take notice of what God created and what He is saying to us.

It’s taking a break. Even just a 2 minute one to stop your car, roll down your window, smell the fresh air, notice the beauty or the sadness in what is around you and take a photo.

It’s turning off the noise for one hour. No tv, no radio, no cell phones. People do it at the cottage all the time so we should manage an hour! It’s so good to teach to our kids too. Teach them that it’s not going to kill them to turn off the noise but to use their imagination. To turn off all the electronics that are stimulating their brains and just rest. Go for a walk. Create something. Play. Think. Relax.  I took some of my kids out for a drive and made them look out the windows and listen to classical violin music.   Then when we saw this beautiful duck pond we got out.   They loved it.  Then we noticed a bridge and found a waterfall.   It was a great day.

All the photos in today’s post I have taken in Sabbath moments this week. Moments I was stopping, seeing, thanking God for his creation. I hope you give micro-Sabbath moments a try and let me know how it affects your head space. Does it help lower your anxiety? Does it help you feel more aware and connected to God? Does it help your kids start to use their imaginations? What do you notice?

SDG