Sabbath Experiment Part 2
20 September 2010
So yesterday was our first real stab at keeping the Sabbath. It’s kinda tough for me to say how it went. To be honest, at the moment it just feels like it’s made my life crazier.
We’re trying to avoid being legalistic about what we can and can’t do on Sabbath, but it still seems like some lines need to be drawn. Like unloading the dishwasher doesn’t seem like a good activity on a day of rest. But you know what also doesn’t feel restful to me? A sink and counter full of dirty dishes waiting for their turn in the dishwasher. I guess I’ll just need to be better about emptying the dishwasher Saturday night so that doesn’t happen again. We’re learning here.
What appears to be my biggest problem so far is my strong instinct to enforce my opinions on my husband. Yesterday Ben was tidying up the place a bit. My mom and Nana were coming over; he thought it’d be nice if they had a place to sit. Anyway. As he’s doing this, I made a couple of comments like, “This and this can be picked up, but cleaning up such-and-such doesn’t seem like something we should do today.” Until finally this thought rang through my head:
You are not Lord over Ben’s Sabbath.
Oh. Right.
Yet this didn’t stop me from getting onto him ten minutes later when Ben opened the dishwasher to get out a couple clean plates. Poor guy, I came just short of body slamming him to prevent him from touching the dishwasher.
So we still have some kinks to work out. Mostly involving my personality.
Happy Monday everybody!
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Comments
Have you read Velvet Elvis? Rob Bell has a section on keeping Sabbath and I thought it was really helpful. I’ve also found that it’s about what makes me feel restful—so I do some dishes and mild cleaning up, but I don’t do laundry or cat litter.
Posted by Bethany Taylor on 20 September 2010
No cat litter sounds like a good Sabbath idea. If only we could talk the kiddos into no diapers :)
It’s been a couple years since I read (and loved) Velvet Elvis. I don’t remember a Sabbath chapter, so it’s obviously time for a refresher. Thanks for mentioning it, Bethany. I love Bell’s writing.
Posted by Stephanie Morrill on 20 September 2010
I am soooo laughing. See, if you hadn’t trained him to be helpful to begin with . . . ;-)
Taking a Sabbath of rest does indeed require planning the day before. I try to make sure my house is neat and dishes all in their places on Friday night, otherwise I have to avoid the kitchen altogether on Saturday to keep from growling. But once you get in the swing of it, it’s really great.
Posted by Roseanna White on 20 September 2010