A slow-er Sabbath?

I wonder how many people serving in a busy church find space for true Sabbath rest. I see people at the service I attend moving about - doing this and that, all being faithful no doubt.....but very busy. Maybe our large churches have developed a high maintenance need these days. We need a lot of people to keep things running. Although technology may have simplified matters, we still need man(woman)power.

And services are fast moving - we have a program and it has to run smoothly. No gentle pauses to take in what we have heard and experienced. These are all left for us to do on our own time - if we ever do, that is. I find myself easily caught up in the momentum of Sunday worship too. As much as I love God's Word, there are times when I appreciate more reflection and less 'preaching'. Then I might find it easier to chew on a morsel received than try to digest a big meal.

Where would a person busy at church on Sundays and then back to the marketplace on Monday find Sabbath sanctuary? They can - yet it requires a lot of creativity and persistence to go against the flow that sweeps us along.

Time seems to 'stand still' when something significant happens to shake us out of our reverie. It could be a very joyful surprise but more often it is an uncomfortable experience - that reminds us that life is fragile. Even when my son had high fever for several days two weeks ago - time stopped - in that everything that seemed urgent before no longer held any meaning. My focus was on the concern about possible dengue fever. Why does it take such things to help us stop the merry go round and 'pay attention' to life, to God? To realize that there is more to life than just to keep the wheels spinning? I think we humans are slow to learn, yet by the grace of God we are being taught...patiently, slowly.....it is God's time table.