Shabbat Shalom.

If there's one thing that God has been speaking to me about lately, it's been the area of rhythm in my life. I just finished Lauren Winner's book Mudhouse Sabbath, which explores some of the spiritual practices of Judaism while applying them to the living of life in Jesus. It's a quick read and one well worth the pick up. It was a great reminder to me of the desperate need for rhythm that I have in my life. For most of my life, I've seen "spiritual disciplines" as a routine to get through, or some sort of "good luck" incantation to get what I want out of God. Lately, I've been awakening to the reality that spiritual practices are not some things among many others, they are the very anchors by which the rest of life orbits around. Lauren puts it this way...

"Practicing the spiritual disciplines does not make us Christians. Instead the practicing teaches us what it means to live as Christians. The ancient disciplines form us to respond to God, over and over always, in gratitude, in obedience, and in faith." [pgs. xii-xiii].

So it got me thinking, what are the rhythmic practices of the faith in my life? What are the practices that center my being on my creator? Something that our family used to be much better at was the practice of Sabbath. When we planted South County United, one of the strands of DNA that we held closely to was doing our gathering on Saturday night, thus celebrating Sundays as a day of Shabbat. It began with the service on Saturday night, extended into a meal shared with others after out gathering, and a good night's rest. We did not use alarm clocks on Sunday morning, but as we got up we made breakfast together and used the rest of the day as a day to celebrate our creator and each other, to be reminded that our lives cannot be measured by what we do, but is measured instead by who we were becoming.

I've been convicted lately that, in particular, this rhythm of Shabbat has been missing from our lives. As I read the chapter in Mudhouse Sabbath on Sabbath, I came across this...

"But there is something, in the Jewish Sabbath that is absent from most Christian Sundays: a true cessation from the rhythms of work and world, a time wholly set apart, and, perhaps above all, a sense that the point of Shabbat, the orientation of Shabbat, is towards God." [p. 10].

As I read those words I began to think about our week as a family. I miss those Sundays when we took time to cease from our rhythm of the week, a day when we unplugged from the busyness of the world and enjoyed the creation of God, including our family. So today we did something about it. Jamie has been working at this amazing restaurant, called La Galette Creperie, directly across the street from the San Clemente pier. She's been working Monday and Tuesday mornings from 7-1pm [while I play Mr. Mom]. It's been a great opportunity for Jamie to get out, have some fun, make a few bucks, all while having the most amazing view of the pier and the ocean. Anyway, today I took the kids to "visit Mom and work". We sat at a table on the sidewalk over looking the ocean, chowing on our crepes. Afterward, we went across the street and hung out at the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Jamie caught up with us after her shift, and as a family we spent the day running under the pier, playing in the water, and burying five year old daughter Madison under a ton of sand. It was perhaps the most refreshing day we've had in months.

I've also wanted to teach my son to surf this summer, as well. So today was his first lesson. We went out on body boards and I taught him how to catch waves, dive under waves, and in general how to keep from getting bummeled [that last part of the lesson did not go so well however]. We had so much fun. My daughters wanted to get into the act, so I got Mikayla on board [and with a little launching from Dad] got her on a few waves. It was a day in which we forgot about life, church, the pain of the past few months, and focused on what was truly important - celebrating God in his creation. As we left the beach, Joshua and I made a pact for the summer. We're going out a few mornings a week to surf together, followed by a breakfast burrito at El Molino De Oro in SJC.

I also decided that I want to do some more studying on the Shabbat. I want to explore the ancient Jewish practices that surround the Sabbath and introduce some of those practices into our Shabbat. I want my family to experience the joy of the Sabbath, the joy of being with family, and celebrating that God is the master of all creation and his prescence fills all of creation. I want to learn to celebrate that. I want to remember that my life is not measured by what I do, or how important I may think I am. My life is measured by the person I am becoming. It is measured in light of who God is.

Comments

[jda]

oh how i miss those days of sabbath...glad to see you doing something about it!

[Rick Ellis]

Mike what an awesome day! Enjoy these family times in God's creation as frequently as possible. It seems that time moves so swiftly that if we are not careful our cildren grow and their own busyness. Kinda of a Cat's in the Craddle moment.

I look forward to reading and listening to your sabbath experiences. We still need to connect. Take care buddy!

[Zach]

you should check out a book called "The Sabbath" by Abraham Joshua Heschel when you get a chance.

[chris]

Lauren blogs @ http://www.laurenwinner.net/blog/

FYI, in case you did not know!!!

[Mike DeVries]

Zach, thanks for the recommendation on Heschel's book. That was the book that began it all for me when we "birthed" our church in the garage. Heschel was the first person I ever read that framed the Sabbath as a concept of sacred time - a place in time where we can step away from "time" and exist in a sacred moment. For those of you who have not read it, it's a classic.

[Jessy Osehan]

Heschel's book is great. Mike, it was great to read through the time you had with your family. Your post made me think a bit about my own rhythm as well. It's interesting how sometimes we make rhythm into a set of plans when really rhythm isn't planning, but stepping into something that is already happening.