Sick Day/Snow Day/ Sabbath

Three weeks ago I woke up with a head cold. You know the type: eyes are sore and feel heavy, headache, congestion with intermittent nasal drainage followed by trickling-down the back of the throat, guaranteed to cause fits of eye-watering coughing in which you think you will cough out part of your brain and lungs. Wasn’t the flu and it wasn’t covid. Just the old-fashioned head cold.

So, I cancelled/postponed any in-person meetings/events, drank lots of fluids, and rested. I had to take a sick day (actually a bunch of sick days until I was reasonably “normal”.)

While I find being under the weather incredibly annoying, secretly it was kind of nice to have an excuse to not be so busy. Dare I say, it reminded me a little of the pandemic and those open-ended days.

Of course, during the pandemic, I was feeling healthy and so, feeling a little cooped up. For most of the cold week, I wasn’t feeling like doing anything: didn’t want to read, or watch any movies, or even sleep.

The tree outside our front windows.

On Monday, we had a doozy of a blizzard in my neck of the woods. The governor banned all travel on Monday and Tuesday. Our street had one lane plowed (we are the emergency route) but all other streets around us have not been plowed as of this writing. Fortunately we have power and so it is another type of rest day.

But this feeling of having a “sick or snow day” intrigues me. Many years ago, in the employment parlance, they talked of a “mental health day”. Not sure if that is the correct term nowadays.

There is something to be said about having a mental health day- a day to clear one’s mind and to reset the pace of our living.

Of course, the Creator of the Universe- which includes the creation of each one of us- knew that we needed a regular “mental health day” which God called the Sabbath. Of course, Sabbath is different from just taking a day off, in that there is a spiritual element to it. The fact that we become, “short-changed” each week of a productive day is one of faith: We rely on God’s time not our own. Just like God’s economy of money, in God’s economy of time, when we give to God first, miraculously, all our needs, demands and responsibilities are met.

According to the Mayo Clinic, everyone would do well to have a mental health day, before any burnout or “sickness” really occurs. It is a day to recharge but not necessarily to just do nothing- or to sit or lie in bed all day (though, I imagine for some, having a day or part of a day like that would be a luxury and well received.) The Mayo Clinic suggests the following: *

• Unplug social media

• Review Goals

• Be creative

• Get physical

• Spend time outdoors

What about you? Have you ever taken a mental health day? If so, what was happening for you to do so? Or, do you keep going until something, like a cold knocks you out? Do you regularly practice a Sabbath? What does that look like for you?

During this Lenten time, some people take on a practice. I have been sending out daily words for us to contemplate. In addition, I would encourage us to practice a Sabbath on our Sundays: to take some time outdoors-noticing the beauty of the created world, to do something other than our routine on “normal” days and to look at our surroundings with a heart posture of gratitude.

*https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/recharge-with-planned-mental-health-day.

Day 10: Words and Pictures: Interval

“Bump, bump, bump”. Once again the cardinal flew into the dining room window. He wouldn’t stop and I was convinced he was hurting himself. Unfortunately I couldn’t tell him to not do that. I don’t speak “bird” and so couldn’t communicate and explain that there was not any rival bird in the window, just his own reflection.

In some ways, that is the Jesus’ story: He came to earth to be able to communicate to us in a way that we would understand and to prevent us from the ultimate harm- separation from God.

But this is where the analogy ends. Jesus sacrificed all for us: humbling himself as a human and suffering all the conditions we do including the most horrible death. The good news, why this weekend is one of eternal importance, is that Jesus also conquered death- He rose from the grave (spoiler alert for tomorrow) and lives (no past tense).

Holy Saturday. The day of rest or Sabbath, for the Jews in Jesus’ day. They had to quickly take him off the cross Friday night, before sundown and bury him before the Sabbath began. What I find interesting is that God didn’t have some cosmic resurrection from the cross. He could’ve. He could’ve saved himself, come down from the cross, as many in the mocking crowd suggested but Jesus had to be declared dead and buried in order to completely conquer death and win the battle for all of us and our sins.

For us, Holy Saturday should be a comfort. While it is a day of mourning, Saturday represents the time when things are becoming right with God. The time cannot be rushed. There is some waiting involved. I wonder if the waiting is another analogy of the waiting that God is doing until all His beloved children come back to Him. We are living in the interval time from what was (Creation) to what will be (new Heaven and Earth). The intermission between acts.

And so Saturday is a day of “rest” before Easter Sunday. While we know what happens tomorrow and what that changes for us and for humankind, we still have to live through Saturday. A day that must’ve been surreal, troubling, full of anguish for Jesus’ family, friends and followers. For many, mourning is a season of rest, a complete pause from what was and what will be. It is an intermission that is difficult, emotional, and seemingly unrelenting. Yet it cannot be rushed. It is a time that prepares us for an eternal reunion. It is the interval that connects the past to the future: mourning that will turn into dancing someday.

As we prepare for Easter, do you believe that Jesus did come to earth? That he lived, suffered, died and rose again? Do you think that he saved us from ourselves or is that a manmade ideology to provide comfort in unexplainable circumstances?

Are you living in your own “Holy Saturday”? Are you grieving the loss of a loved one? How can you come alongside someone who is mourning? In this time of Corona, while we may not physically come alongside one another, could you offer support over the phone, a letter or email?

the "Pietà" by Michelangelo, Saint-Peter's Basilica, Vatican City. A magnificent work of art- this was carved out of one block of marble- the folds of her robe look more like cloth than stone.

One image that I think of for the suffering of Christ: death and the (temporary) separation of loved ones. This was Mary’s “Holy Saturday”, the interval before she sees her beloved son again. Any mother who has lost her child…

Living with Spaciousness

On Sunday's "On Being" radio program, I heard an interview with the poet Naomi Shihab Nye.  At one point she spoke about living with spaciousness- giving yourself time to exist in this world. 

I loved the image and the permission:  to have the opportunity to create space in all that we do, to allow ourselves room to breathe- physically, emotionally, spiritually.  

Spaciousness.  To me it connotes wide expanses and openness.  I think the idea of vastness is part of our psyche or at least the American psyche.  We think of the wide open plains, the expanse of oceans or great lakes or the scale of our sky scrapers.  I think it also connotes possibility like a large blank canvas. 

I think the poet's words spoke to me because at this juncture in our lives, we are in the middle of redoing our basement.  For anyone who has ever been in the middle of a home project you know all about disruption, feeling claustrophobic with clutter and chaos that these projects create. At present all the items in our basement are currently housed in our first and second floor rooms.  I am certainly not feeling any spaciousness in our home lately.  

So, I find it incredibly appealing to think of the idea of creating and living with spaciousness both in the external, our residence and in the internal of our lifestyle choices.  I definitely see the advantage in the external.  I cannot wait to get my household back in order, straightened and de-cluttered. To have room to move around, to set out new projects, and to not be burdened by confining spaces is my wish. 

I am equally wishful for a lifestyle that gives me room to move around, to engage in new projects or ideas and to not be burdened by confining habits.  As an example of living with spaciousness the poet suggested the simple practice of arriving to an appointment a couple minutes early.  It will give you some time to settle before you move from one task to another.  You have time to observe your surroundings, take a breath and create a buffer between events.

In some ways I liken it creating petite sabbaths- time when my norm is paused for a brief time and I can reflect.  Generally I find my norm is hustling from one activity into another. When I give myself these petite pauses, I create time to be:  time to take a  deep breath, say a prayer, speak to a stranger, notice my surroundings. 

Building in time for pausing will mean that something in my schedule will have to be eliminated. It makes me vulnerable and open to the possibility that I may not accomplish that which I want or at least in my time frame.  It has taken me a long time to realize that true Sabbath keeping is not accomplishing seven days of work in six days.  It is not rushing around for those six days so that when you rest on the seventh, you are "caught" up.   

True Sabbath keeping is allowing time for God, for accomplishing things not in our normal routine and giving that time over to God for whatever He desires for us. It is knowing that while we might not have everything done in those six days, we give over that seventh day to Him regardless.  

I think living with spaciousness is Sabbath keeping on a smaller scale.  We are pausing in our lives, creating margin so that before we run into our house after work, we have time to listen to the neighbor talk about his kids, or plan to take a full lunch break in order to hear the co-worker's anxiety over her mother-in-law's health, or pause before running on the trail and sit and ponder the surrounding beauty of nature.  

Just like I need space and order in my physical living space, I need margin in my emotional and spiritual life.  I need to guard that I am not jam-packed, minute by minute in my schedule. I need to leave open space for the possibilities of whatever might occur. I need to offer back my schedule and its margins to God as gratitude for what the margins create in my life: an order, a spaciousness, an opportunity, a blessing of enjoyment of all aspects of life.  

What about you?  Do you live with spaciousness?  In your physical world?  Your emotional or spiritual world? Do you have margins in your life?  Time that isn't taken with activities?  Time to just be? What would that look like for you?  Can you create petite Sabbaths in your day?  Your week? 

Sabbath Keeping

How are you at Sabbath keeping?  I am not talking about the traditional Orthodox Jewish practice of never turning on a light on Saturday.  Although if that is your practice I admire it.

I am talking about a day of rest, restoration and re-creation.  Do you regularly take time to recharge? Do you have margins in your life to just stop the everyday craziness?  Or do you feel that any stoppage time would set you back and the trying to catch up would not be worth it?  

I have been trying to add more wiggle room into my life- to intentionally leave time open on my calendar for incidentals and interruptions.  I must say that it is difficult.  For just when I think I have left room, it gets filled up and overflowing.  And then, the incidentals and interruptions occur. 

I am also trying to be more intentional in having a day or at least a part of the day in which the rhythm of the day is slower.  A day that is not hurried but one in which things organically happen.

I am trying to have a Sabbath.  

For me, as a Christian that means Sunday; starting my day with worship and spending time in relationship building of spending time with family and friends.  Sabbath is a time for enjoying the world around me, others and the world that God created. 

For me Sabbath starts the day before with a day of preparation.  It is on Saturday that I try and get things in order so that I don't have to worry about to-do items or activities.  Yet, I have learned that getting prepared for Sabbath doesn't mean that I have to be frantic because now I have one fewer day in the week to work. It means that I try and have things ready but probably not all done.  It reminds me that I am not in control of my life but God is.  I can trust Him with all the details of activity, knowing that He provides what I need to get done.  It is another example of God's economy; His economy of time. When we offer what we have to Him- time, money, resources- He always returns that portion back and more.  There is no logical explanation.  It is a God thing. 

I have decided that I would make ahead some simple meals that I can invite others to enjoy.  

Last Sunday was such a day.  I must say that I really looked forward to everything that was to transpire that day.  I looked forward to worship and to the time spent with friends.   The rhythm of our day was wonderful- slower paced, intentional, and restorative.

Many times, even for a "day off" I have so many obligations; activities, caring for others, to-do list projects around the house.  The schedule seems overwhelming.  If I don't stick to it, I will muddle through my day and not accomplish anything.  I have had to rethink my definition of "accomplishment".  Isn't it a good accomplishment to feel restored and ready for the next six days?  

What about you?  Do you have any time during the week that is slower paced?  How do you slow down your lifestyle?  Do you intentionally plan for a Sabbath?  If not, what is holding you back? What do you need to do in order to practice a Sabbath? 

I may not achieve it every week, but I am going to try and keep the Sabbath.