We are every day becoming aware of the costs of a life without rest. Increasingly, social workers, courts, and probation officers are raising our children, rescuing them the unintentional wasteland of our hyperactivity.
-- Wayne Muller
As you might detect, I am doing some reading on the concept of Sabbath in our lives. Noting, particularly, that from God's perspective, this isn't just a recommendation (see the 10 Commandments, number 4). I'm wondering if 'remember the Sabbath' is a pivotal commandment between the earlier ones and those that follow and am considering the ways that this might be the case. And, in so doing, the quote above makes some sense.
Why do you think we are so submerged in 'activity'? What are we afraid of...if we don't stay 'busy'?
The author of the book referenced below suggests:
...our restlessness injures the people around us, who need our attention more than they need our accomplishments. Our children need us to have the time to look them in the eyes, to ask about their lives, to give them the gift of attention. And we need that as well.
I really like this. It is both convicting and freeing...to be different, to stop...to rest.
