Way Of Love: Spiritual Practices For DisciplesНамуна

REST

The Way of Love practice that I have the hardest time following is rest. I’m not talking about the rest of taking a nap or binge-watching my favorite show, but the true, restorative rest that God demands we offer one day a week, where we devote time to spiritual pursuits. Laundry, I guarantee you, is not a spiritual pursuit, no matter how you try to dress it up. Remembering the sabbath is the fourth commandment— and the only commandment that I believe we break consistently and with pride.

Our culture is in a place where we honor busyness. We celebrate our overcommitted schedules, our burgeoning calendars, our inability to get everything done. We pack ourselves tight along with our children and our parents and call it a life well lived. Following the Way of Love reminds us that there is a different path we can take. Isaiah makes clear what happens when we follow our own interests and pursue our own affairs: We trample the sabbath, and we do not honor God with our actions.

With my feet firmly planted in midlife, with aging children on one side and aging and dying parents on the other, I need to acknowledge that rest is what God demands of me—of all of us—and what we must demand of ourselves. No matter how significant our work, no matter how important our child’s dance practice, no matter how serious our parent’s doctor’s visit, we must restore our hearts and minds so that we can live fully into a God-filled existence.

When we genuinely rest, we do as God does. When we rest, we give ourselves time to follow all of the other practices of the Way of Love.

As these are daily practices, we should allocate some time every day for restoration. On our sabbath day, we should aspire to give the entire day to God. As long as we’re doing something as radical as following Jesus, why not go even further and do whatever it takes to have a holy sabbath?

• What prevents you from honoring the sabbath? What activities or chores take place on the sabbath that you could do on another day? Take inventory of your calendar and schedule those activities on another day of the week.
• Who do you need to help you get more rest and honor God’s day? Look to the people in your life—your children (no matter their ages), parents, loved ones, and co-workers—and ask for help to clear that path to a holy sabbath.

Miriam Willard McKenney, Development Director Forward Movement Cincinnati, OH

Would you like to explore the Way of Love practices further? Check out the Way of Love 50 Day Bible Challenge.