The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry
Part three: Practices for unhurrying your life
Sabbath (4|4)
Pages 168-176
TOGETHER read the book and then the following scripture slowly and attentively.
INDIVIDUALLY take notes in your journal on what stands out.
Isaiah 58:13-14 (NIV) “If you keep your feet from breaking the Sabbath and from doing as you please on my holy day if you call the Sabbath a delight and the LORD’s holy day honorable, and if you honor it by not going your own way and not doing as you please or speaking idle words, then you will find your joy in the LORD, and I will cause you to ride in triumph on the heights of the land and to feast on the inheritance of your father Jacob.” For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
GROUP DISCUSSION:
Sabbath is a way of saying, “Enough.” Buying things isn’t always bad, but most of us have more than enough to enjoy a rich and satisfying life.
Psalm 23:1(NIV) The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing.
Share just one or two things that stood out to you while reading the book and/or scripture. (try to keep it brief)
TOGETHER pray for one another.
INDIVIDUALLY answer the questions in your journal - process your notes and pray.
Ronald Rolheiser wrote: So much of our unhappiness comes from comparing our lives, our friendships, our loves, our commitments, our duties, our bodies, and our sexuality to some idealized and non-Christian version of things which falsely assures us that there is a heaven on earth. When that happens, and it does, our tensions begin to drive us mad, in this case to a cancerous restlessness. True restlessness, though is a form of awareness, a way of being in life. It is living ordinary life with a sense of ease, gratitude, appreciation, peace, and prayer. We are restful when ordinary life is enough.
What is your response to that statement?
When have you experienced a “cancerous restlessness”?
When have you experienced a true restlessness?
John Mark Comer said: The Sabbath isn’t just a twenty-four-hour time slot in your weekly schedule; it’s a spirit of restlessness that goes with you through your week. A way of living with “ease, gratitude, appreciation, peace and prayer.” A way of working from rest, not for rest, with nothing to prove. A way of bearing fruit from abiding, not ambition.
What is your response to that statement?
Shabbat is a verb. It’s something you do. A practice, a skill you hone. It can be a practice so foreign that it might take a while to dial into. That’s okay. Remember, you’re not in a hurry.
To begin, just set aside a day. Clear your schedule. TURN OFF YOUR PHONE. Say a prayer to invite the Holy Spirit to lead you. And then? Rest and worship. In whatever way is life giving for your soul.
EXTRA READING:
“Christ wears ‘two shoes’ in the world: Scripture and nature. Both are necessary to understand the Lord, and at no stage can creation be seen as a separation of things from God.”
- John Scotus Eriugena (815 - 877)