RECLAIMING SUNDAY

I blogged recently on how we practice business for the sake of busy, and how very often it feels like we lack intention in what we do. We don’t take the time to reflect on why we don’t invite people to church and a whole host of other things that get lost in the rat-race we call life.  There’s a reason why Jesus, was firm about getting away from it all and getting rest. How can we find focus if we don’t take the time to plan our day? And I don’t mean making a list of who needs driving where, and what has to be picked up at the grocery store. I mean thinking about what we want our day to be, how we want to be present in the world, how we will contribute. A recent interview of Joshua Foer, an American author and journalist, on the Happiness Project website, highlighted this: he talks about how after years of not paying much attention to it, he has become very deliberate about how he observes the Sabbath. “For 25 hours each week, everything gets turned off,” he says. “No email. No phone. I don’t make anything. I don’t destroy anything. No matter how much stress I have in my life, it all evaporates on Friday night.” There’s a reason why God commanded us to keep one day Holy, a time to rest, a time for contemplation. We have gotten away from that – for many of us the most contemplation happens on Sunday morning. (And then I suspect more than a few parishioners are still thinking about the work they have ahead of them.) It’s the summer, when we might have more time to observe these necessary rest periods in life. Just pause. You never know what you might see that you never noticed before.

If you want to read more about Josh Foer’s interview, or just check our the Happiness Project Blog, click here: http://happiness-project.com/happiness_project/2012/07/for-25-hours-each-week-no-email-no-phone-i-dont-make-anything/