Sabbath keeping is not merely good advice for you to lead a nicely-balanced life. It is a practice that is knit into the created order.5

The rule of keeping a Sabbath frees me to spend time with family and not feel guilty that I am not working. On the flipside, I am committed to working when it is time to work without feeling guilty that I am not with my family. In a very practical way, this rule sets life-giving limits for me. A “monastic bell” enables us to establish our limits wi

Saint Benedict’s rule was designed with “a little strictness in order to amend faults and to safeguard love.” His rule is also famous for its gentleness and flexibility. He insisted that “in drawing up its regulations, we hope to set down nothing harsh, nothing burdensome.”7

Benedict’s perspective can be summarized in the famous dictum, “To pray is to work; to work is to pray.”

God, the Creator of all things, the One who knows us better than anyone else and yet loves us more than anyone else, invites us to this friendship. Sharing time with God should never be seen as a duty: it’s a get to, not a have to; a may, not a must.1

Ironically, attempting too many spiritual practices at once can actually keep our relationship with Jesus on the surface because we are not able to experience him deeply in any of those activities. It’s like speed dating. You can’t have a significant conversation with any one person even though, or rather because, you’re doing a lot of “dating.”

We work from a place of rest, rather than desperately needing rest from our work. We are human beings, not human doings.

what is most important is having a relationship with him, as opposed to getting through a spiritual task. It was hard for me at first to realize that quiet time in conversation with God was more fruitful than hurriedly attempting to get through a certain amount of Scripture…. God has taught me that it is all about the relationship, not about what I

The path to greatness, whether pursued consciously or unconsciously, is one that requires a rhythm of disciplined practice.