As promised when I wrote "Sabbath" (3/22/14) last weekend, since I chose to work on my Sabbath I am taking today off for that practice. I struggled as I wrote the word "practice" because for me Sabbath requires practice. Perhaps it is because this odd weekday Sabbath doesn't have any routines like getting up and going to church that I am much more aware of the state of mind required for Sabbath practice.
After working out of town most of the week and getting home when it was almost dark, one of the first things I wanted to do this morning was to check for signs of spring on my balcony. Although I left town in Washington's latest snow storm, two days of warmer temperatures had sent new flower shoots bursting through the soil, some already three inches high. I raced to my kitchen sink for water to encourage their growth.
Just as I was doing so, I was struck with the question: "Isn't watering my plants work?" Hmmm. Caring for these living things that I love brings me such joy, can that really be considered work? I have often experienced joy in my work for which I get paid, and I was pretty certain that didn't make doing my job appropriate Sabbath activity. I continued to water, but I was really present to the living things upon which I was showering not only water but love.
I came in and made myself my normal breakfast fruit starter of fresh fruit, and I realized that the preparation might be work, certainly the way I was mindlessly going about it I stopped, took a deep breath, and began mindfully slicing and creatively arranging the fruit in my plate. I felt that was the way I should do food preparation on the Sabbath. (I know the rabbis in the temple would probably say that we aren't supposed to do food prep at all on the Sabbath.)
Next I filled my teakettle with water to make tea. Once again I wondered: "Was this activity work?" About that time, I knew that I wanted to share my thoughts in this blog, but once again I was struck with the question: "Is that work?" How could soul-searching be considered inappropriate activity for the Sabbath?
As I often do as I've written, the act of writing has brought me clarity. That is how I ended up using the word "practice" at the beginning of this post. Although the rabbis in the temple may disagree, I have come to understand two things about my Sabbath practice that I didn't know when I awakened this morning:
1) I think that the Sabbath is less about what we do and more about how we do it. By slowing the pace, we can bring more consciousness to whatever we do, and I think the consciousness we are to bring is a state of godliness. For me, personally, that means holding myself in love, joy, and peace--states that make me feel at one with all that is.
2) I arrived at the word "practice" because I realized this really is the state of consciousness that I want all the time: Sabbath gives me time and a pace to practice this way of being so that maybe I will be able to live and work this way more
of the time in the other six days of the week. I even think that my realization will make me more aware of how I will live all the time.
Unless it rains, I will go for a walk this afternoon, but instead if just going for a walk during which my mind continues to work, my Sabbath walk will be practice in consciousness for the week ahead and a time to delight in being present to spring budding around me.
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