My Imminent Sabbath

Sabbath is an ancient concept. Whether you belong to a religious community of faith or not, I think all people relate to the notion of rest and renewal. The Fourth of the Ten Commandments commands us to remember or observe the Sabbath and to keep it holy. I admit that I have had a life long struggle with keeping and observing the Sabbath. I have yet to learn what it means, truly, to enter into the rest and the shalom that Sabbath time promises. The times that I have had a glimpse of it, a taste of it, leaves me wanting more.

This year I am blessed to receive a "Sabbatical Grant for Pastoral Leaders" that will allow me to take an eight week Sabbath. I will have time to rest, renew, reconnect with friends and rediscover places and faces that have been part of my life journey. I will leave on Saturday, October 30th for a month's stay in Argentina, where I lived and served from 1978 to 1986. I look forward to connecting with old friends. I will have a chance to visit churches I served as Pastor and to visit the beautiful cities of Buenos Aires, Rosario, Mendoza, and Pinamar. My wife, Tammie, and several friends will join me in Argentina about ten days into my stay.

While on this Sabbath Journey, I intend to write regularly on this blog. I invite comments, reflections and sharings as I explore more deeply the meaning of the menuha, the deeply embraced spiritual rest that is the essence of Sabbath.