Soul Talk

Another Sabbath Day

I'm not sure many would be comfortable with how I'm defining a Sabbath Day. I had lunch with a spiritual mentor of mine. Over the last few years we have met 4-5 times a year. He's always responsive when I call. We talk about whatever I have to say, or ask, and he always has a suggestion for a next step. Today he recommended a couple of books and some Bible reading. These books and practices we talked about are not the goal, they are part of the pathway to know and love God better.

I've got a long way to go on this journey, but it is great to have people who are willing to meet with me and help. This spiritual mentor is a friend. He offers me a perspective that I'm missing. Days like today are Sabbaths in my journey. They offer time to reflect, to gain perspective, to correct my course, to remember who I am, and why I am here, and most importantly, they offer me a time to remember who God is, and who I am with respect to Him.

I'm sure there's a better way to say what I'm trying to say, but today, I'm celebrating a Sabbath Day, and loving it.

Sabbath Rest

I spent most of yesterday reading Dallas Willard's, "Renovation of the Heart," sipping coffee, and listening to good music on my iPhone, while sitting at my other office (Panera Bread).  It was the first Sabbath rest I’ve taken in nearly seven months.  I’ve cheated myself and am worse for it.  We’ve been in a crisis at church and all my attentions and energies have been directed to manage and keep things together…as if it depended on me. 

I’ve got some healing to do because of the damage I’ve caused to my soul. I’ll need a few extra Sabbaths in the days ahead and pray that God will use them to heal the woundedness that is in me, and cause me to know and love him more deeply than before.