Summer Sabbath

Since June, I have concluded my emails with 'Enjoy this summer sabbath.' With each encouraging message to allow ourselves to fall into the richness of creation that summer brings, I am also aware that we are saving up for one season the richness that creatures of God may, can, and, should enjoy every week.

Summer is the season when the routine is put on pause. Schools pause. Jobs pause. Schedules pause. Even church attendance pauses, as members and pastors take some time away. We throw ourselves into different activities and new experiences and lots of fun. We find, or have time, for things that renew our inner being, the connection with our hearts. We find, or have time, for the things that rest our monkey minds from jumping from one thought to the next. We find, or have time, to be aware of our bodies feeling hunger, warmth, sleepiness, and, energy outside of framework of a schedule.

As summer concludes, I aways want to retain, carry over, remember some of this sabbath. What was it like to stay in on that rainy day, sip tea, and read until late afternoon? What was it like to feel the sun on my shoulders? What was it like to truly pause and listen to my breath? Perhaps summer has more to teach and there is much more that I can learn by taking even a Sunday afternoon to find time to connect to my heart, listen to my breath, quiet my mind, and rest in the vast wonder of a Creator God.