Monday, April 28, 2008
Sabbath
From the May Bathford Parish Bulletin.
Dear Friends
As you read this I will be beginning a month of what is known as ‘study leave’. (I will be studying, I promise!) The prospect of this time and how to use it have caused me to think a bit about the whole idea of ‘Sabbath’. The word ‘Sabbath’ means ‘rest’. It is fascinating how there is universal medical consensus about the importance to our physical and psychological health of regular periods of rest; and there in the Bible’s account of creation we find ‘Sabbath’ - one day of rest in every seven. It’s almost as if a loving Father knows what is best for his children!
But the idea of ‘Sabbath’ is far richer than simply stopping what you normally do for a day a week. Nor does it mean cramming into that one day all the thousand and one things that need doing around the house and in the garden which we can’t do any other time because we are so busy at work! (I’m definitely guilty of this one.)
In the Bible’s account of creation the seventh day is the day of ‘rest’ - the day when all the wonders of creation are to be enjoyed in relationship with the God who made them. And, interestingly, in the way the Bible tells the story this seventh day has no end. In other words, this is the way things are meant to be; this is what it means to be human - living in God’s amazing world in relationship with him.
Of course, that’s not the way things are any more; and elsewhere in the Bible the ‘Sabbath’ is described as the day to remember what God has done to ensure world in relationship with the God who is our Creator and our Saviour.
Such are the pressures of living in this world that if we don’t take one day out a week to remind ourselves of these things and to enjoy them, it’s not just our physical and psychological health but our very identity as human beings that will suffer. ‘Sabbath’ is a gift from a loving heavenly Father. It’s one day in the week designed to help us live all seven days in the week as proper human beings.
I’m looking forward to my ‘Sabbath’. I recognise what a great privilege it is to have a month in which to study and reflect on what it means to be the child of a heavenly Father who is my Creator and my Saviour. I hope I will return better able to live and share these wonderful realities with the community in whose life I am privileged to share. I hope also that you will be able to find a ‘Sabbath’ time in your week. I know you won’t regret it!
I look forward to seeing you in June.
With my best wishes,
Tim Ling
Vicar At St Swithuns