Rest, renewal, and delight

By Kim Shippey Senior Writer

When I asked myself why it had taken me three years to open my copy of Sabbath, my answer was honest but hardly what author Wayne Muller would have wanted to hear. "Far too busy" sounded weak in the face of the subtitle right there on the cover of the paperback edition, "Finding rest, renewal, and delight in our busy lives." For those were precisely my rewards when I finally got around to reading the book.

Muller, an ordained minister and founder of Bread for the Journey (a small nonprofit charity to support the needs of people and communities), draws his title from one of the Ten Commandments, "Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Ex. 20:8). "Sabbath time," he says, "can be a revolutionary challenge to the violence of overwork, mindless accumulation, and the endless multiplication of desires, responsibilities, and accomplishments."

In the book, Muller uses the word Sabbath as a specific religious practice and as a metaphor to jumpstart a conversation about the often-forgotten necessity of rest. He suggests that readers broaden their view of Sabbath. It is more, he says, than the absence of work. It's not just a day off when we catch up on e-mails and errands, but a commitment to identify and value what is most deeply beautiful, nourishing, or true in our lives. "It is time consecrated with our attention, our mindfulness, honoring those quiet forces of grace or spirit that sustain and heal us."

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