Sabbath and the Art of Rest

As theologian Walter Brueggeman writes on rest and sabbath—it’s a “pause that transforms.” Rest— of people, of land, of resources— is always linked to flourishing, not scarcity. Practiced in times of plenty and proven in times of crisis.

If you observe a sabbath, this feeling is not unfamiliar. You are well-acquainted with what others think of as the awkward restraints of just being . You understand its essential, restorative purpose — and marvel at others’ allergy to it. Why are we so terrified of stillness? To be still is an invitation to reckon with our smallness, our powerlessn

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Of course, given the screaming, incessant demands of the modern world, authentic rest sounds like a utopian fantasy. Who has time to do nothing? But rest is not nothing; it is essential to who we are and what we can become. Far from being mere “down time” or a boring break in the action, rest is a time of crucial metabolic and psycho-spiritual reor

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