It is Lent – the Christian season of death, sacrifice, giving up, preparation (for Easter). What this means practically for most Christian who adhere to traditions tied to Lent is that it is a process of denying something or fasting.
Fasting does not necessarily have a great connotation, because we (especially Americans) like to eat. We naturally do not like to be disciplined (take any young child for an example) and fasting by nature is a discipline, no matter what you give up – food or not.
So, in a broader sense, Lent is a time in the lives of Christians where we are presented most vividly the importance of practicing discipline. Although all of life for a Christian has some connection to discipline, Lent is a time where we see how bad (infrequent/half-hearted/unmotivated) we are at pursuing discipline and get a chance to renew our efforts.
And in particular, spiritual discipline – practices established in life for a particular higher purpose.
So, I thought I would share in the next two weeks two unusual spiritual disciplines I have put to practice in my life recently. I am constantly on the lookout for disciplines that are interesting and not run-of-the-mill. To be sure, there is nothing better than tried and true prayer, Bible reading, fasting, tithing, worship, etc., but there is something enlivening in a unique expression of such disciplines that really connects with God’s rhythm in and around your life.
I have found that these disciplines arise naturally in my life, but also push me to experience God in new, profound ways. A comfort and a challenge.
So, the first spiritual discipline is Sunset Sabbath.
Sabbath is rest. It was traditionally a day set aside every week where Jews would do no work. In fact, it is a commandment. Exodus 20:8-11 explains this practice and its reasoning, “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work – you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the LORD blesses the Sabbath day and consecrated it.”
Unfortunately, in our busy, constantly moving world, rest is often looked down on. Many people no longer need to rest. And modern technology allows us to do that – we can stay up all night, we can be complete work-a-holics. And the demands of our lives often drive us to do that. Not only are we too busy all day, we are too busy all week, putting in 17 hour days, 7 days a week.
Even the secular world is beginning to understand the importance of rest. In the March 2010 issue of Wired, Brendan Koerner wrote an article in defense of facebook/twitter use in the workplace saying, “Humans weren’t designed to maintain a constant focus on assigned tasks. We need periodic breaks to relieve our conscious minds of the pressure to perform (16).” He explains how this ‘incubation’ can spur greater creativity. If taking a break to muse on other random information can be helpful, I just wonder how much better mental/physical/emotional breaks can be when the focus of that time is turned to God.
In our prevalent busyness, can we find the time to focus on God? Can we find the time to rest?
Even religious people are not exempt from this. We can fill our schedules just as easily and fully with a plethora of religious work. Even an accumulation of spiritual disciplines. In fact, religious people are often among the most overworked.
Is it even important to rest?
The idea of a Sunset Sabbath is to take a set time out of the day everyday to rest. I have found the time of sunset to be best, as it is in harmony with nature and provides a perfect timing. It usually comes right before dinner (or right after if you are an early eater) and lasts around 30 minutes. Not to mention it is absolutely beautiful. This means that (almost) every day I go outside and watch the sunset for about 15-30 minutes. The actual time varies according to daylight savings, but I always know when to go based on the great timekeeper of the sky.
That means that I usually have to drop whatever I am doing and just go watch the sunset (in fact I had to suddenly stop writing this just now to go do that – no joke!), but there is something really freeing in knowing that spending time in devotion to God is far more important than anything else I could be doing at this moment.
It is a daily reminder that God is in ultimate control, that He cares for us and His world, and that there is nothing I can do to keep Him from lavishing His love on all creation.
Is Sabbath just about turning off, or going into standby mode? Or just distracting our attention with something else to do?
I have found it is usually best to find the highest structure you can and Sabbath from the top. A better view of the sunset and less people traffic helps to block out many distractions. And there is no excuse for not doing this in nice weather. If it is cold, windows work well to see out of. I have run into the reality that there is not always a definite sunset – due to clouds mostly. But even that time can be a good time to reflect. Life is always beautiful, but not always pretty and sometimes a cloudy evening helps capture the mood better anyway.
How much rest do we need? Is the rest we get really restful?
One great benefit I have found in sunset Sabbath is that it helps connect me to the rhythm of nature. God created a world with natural seasons, months, and days as markers of the passing of time. Our natural rhythm is disturbed by constant busyness or constant sloth. But the sunset is nature’s transition time and a time I have found the world very much at peace.
I think there is still a lot of value in weekly Sabbath, and I try very hard to rest one day a week, but I think it may be even more important to find ways to remind ourselves of our relationship to God throughout the day. It may be even more true to the heart of the commandment to do whatever it is that connects us with the restful nature of God and experience His presence more fully, more regularly. It is important to really stop and give attention and focus to God – to retune to God’s station. That’s what sunset Sabbath has done for me.
It is tempting to stare right into the sun at this time, I would suggest not doing that – you may not see too many more sunsets. But, in upping my ‘cheese’ factor tremendously, I would suggest this time is best used by staring directly into the Son. And truly getting lost in Him. Listen, sing, smell, see, feel, pray. Rest. And in all this, find God at the center.
P.S. I have often tried to take pictures of the sunset, but they never come out anywhere close to what I see. Maybe that is because there are more colors in the sky than the makers of my camera ever imagined.
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