Our Journey with God: Sabbath Rest
When I sit down in my living room, near a pile of books, one of my Bibles and intentionally turn to our Creator God, I sometimes begin by reading these words from Meister Eckhart:
There is a journey you must take.
It is a journey without destination.
There is no map.
Your soul will lead you.
And you can take nothing with you.Meister Eckhart
I write this very confessionally. When I was invited to be a Circuit Rider in the Part-time Pastor; Full-time Church program, I was over-joyed. I attended the initial gathering weekend in Richmond, VA. On my two flights from Richmond back to Dayton, OH I realized an urge to grow spiritually. I began with Foster’s Celebration of Discipline. In case you wonder, I haven’t “arrived” yet. I am on the way.
Since my ordination I have been a chaplain in two different hospitals and a part-time associate pastor in two different congregations. I have a big heart for part-time pastors; especially multi-vocational part-time pastors. I realize that, while, I deeply desire part-time pastors to be blessed on this journey (I also do care about full-time pastors!) it is a journey for each and every one of us here in South/Central Indiana Church of the Brethren.
I added the word “Sabbath” to my journey after seeing our District Executive’s schedule on Facebook. There it was: Monday was her Sabbath. This was a refreshing thought for me. As of yet, I haven’t accomplished a Sabbath for a 24 hr. period. But I am free to sprinkle Sabbath out over my seven day week.
In the January 2023 “Sojourners” author Josina Guess wrote of “Lucille Clifton’s Creative Resolve. One phrase of her article caught my eye and my imagination. “Writing wasn’t scheduled, but stitched together from the scraps of minutes spared throughout the day.” While our seven day a week schedule may not allow one full day for a Sabbath, we can stitch our Sabbath/our spiritual journeys together from scraps of minutes spared throughout each and every day. Barbara Brown Taylor in her book Gospel Medicine wrote of Abram and Sarai: “They simply learned to recognize the tug inside them when it came, as if God held the end of a delicate thread stitched lightly through their hearts.”
Those two quotes have blessed me. Those of you reading this, let us consider that that delicate thread through our hearts joins us all together and to God and that even though our days are filled and running over with things to do, there will still be scraps of minutes to dwell in God’s presence.
Sometimes my pieced together Sabbath time is scripture, spoken prayer, listening prayer, sitting at dusk to watch for lightening bugs, working in the garden with my brother, the same garden where our parents, a grandmother and great-grandparents gardened, brief times of deep sharing with a colleague, the joy of an inch of rain in my rain gauge. What are you stitching together on your journey – has God tugged your heart recently. My Sabbaths, my journey will be blessed by your sharing how you are stitching together your journey with our Lord. My email address is: JLLargent@aol.com. Let’s do this together.
Jan Largent, pastor
Circuit Rider
Part-time Pastor, Full-time Church