Time Off

(Left: Time off in June at Oregon's Oswald West State Park)

“All the studies say that no one works harder than Americans do. It is both the natural response to the land of opportunity and the cost of living in such a material culture. For most of us, it’s easier just to go on working, caught up in the familiar day-to-day rhythms, than it is to take a real vacation. The routine of work becomes the bedrock of our lives, the substance of who we are. —“One Day Respite,” today's New York Times

In honor of the blessing of work and in view of our need to rest from it, I share what some of my favorite writers have said on the subject of work and rest:

Dorothy L. Sayers: From “Why Work?” in Creed and Chaos

[Work should] be thought of as a creative activity undertaken for the love of the work itself.

Man, made in God's image, should make things, as God makes them, for the sake of doing well a thing that is well worth doing.

The only Christian work is good work well done.

Lauren Winner: From her article “In Today’s Culture, What Does It Mean to Keep the Sabbath Holy?” Today's Christian Woman, Jan/Feb 2004

Of course, Christians aren't bound by Old-Testament Sabbath directives. Twice in his epistles, the apostle Paul made it clear that Sabbath observance, like other external signs of piety, is insufficient for salvation.

But Jesus never said to forget the Sabbath completely. Keeping the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments, after all! And through the ages Christians have seen the wisdom of devoting one full day to rest and praise….

In a society that values busyness and productivity, observing the Sabbath is downright countercultural.... The key to the Sabbath isn't merely rest. Rather, it's that in our rest we turn our attention to God, whose rest our Sabbath mirrors….

I've found it helpful to mark the beginning of the Sabbath. On Saturday evenings, I gather with friends for an unhurried time of food, fellowship, and prayer.

I also have taken inspiration from the two commandments that govern Jewish Sabbath observance: to not work on the Sabbath, and to be joyful….

The way into Christian Sabbath observance isn't so much about rules as orientation: away from the busyness of the week and toward the Creator who rested.

Eugene Peterson: From a personal interview

The first thing is that you have to be convinced [Sabbath-observing] is important. Unless you’re convinced, it’s hard to do. The world is conspiring against you. And your pastor most of all. So first I think you have to be convinced it’s true.

It never gets any easier. I wake up Sunday morning or Monday morning—I’ve been doing this for twenty-five to thirty years now—and I can think of something I want to write. I never write on the Sabbath. That’s hard work to me. I don’t even write notes. I say, “Lord, if you want me to remember that on Tuesday, okay!” But that’s it. It still doesn’t get any easier. I would have thought that the weekly habit of Sabbath would by this time just be a habit, but it’s not. I want to do things. I want to call people. It takes me two or three hours before I say, “Okay, Lord, I quit. It’s your day.” There’s so much I could do.

This is where the whole world conspires against you. But the commandment is pretty clear. He said it twice, but He gave a different reason each time. In Genesis, you do it because God did it, which ought to be a good enough reason. The second reason, in Deuteronomy, is because nobody gave you a day off for four hundred years.

If you work on the Sabbath, you make other people work—your spouse, your kids, your associates, your congregation. So it’s social justice.

This post was submitted to the Carnival of Beauty sponsored by Sallie at A Gracious Home. This week the theme is The Beauty of Work and is hosted by Mary at Relevant Blog. 10/8/06 addition: Check out Mary's Anatomy of a Family Sabbath.

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