The Spiritual Practice Of Sabbath

Judaism is an ancient religion which originated in the Middle East and has spread throughout the world. Today the followers of Judaism have many tradition s and rituals in which are celebrated all year round in thanks and in praise to God. Shabbat is one of the most important rituals and is celebrated by nearly every variant of the Jewish Religion.

Luke 5:16 states, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Jesus set an example for all to follow in spending time with our Father. One cannot adequately function without time in word and prayer daily. “And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8). Serenity is extremely valuable to this one. While being bombarded with information every day and chaos on every corner, it’s necessary to unplug from life and spend a little time with God. Think about it, how can one hear Him above the noise? He has only spoken to this one while still and quiet. Many times, in spending my mornings with God, this writer has become overwhelmed by the intoxicating aroma of Frankincense. What comfort to receive the message that He is near. What joy to get lost in His companionship alone in the woods, sitting on the bank of a lake, or on the sandy beach. Just me and

1. The last step to ensure that I can balance my life is to take daily “time-outs.”

It is a day of rest (they do not work or have others work for them, emergencies are exceptions) and connection to God. Sabbath is kept from sundown on Friday until sundown on Saturday. The Seventh-day Sabbath originates from Creation, when God rested from His work on the seventh day. Keeping the Sabbath is a perpetual sign of the everlasting covenant between God and his people, a symbol of love. God gave each one of us life, and guarding the Sabbath and keeping it holy shows reverence and respect to God, our creator. The Sabbath is a golden opportunity to engage in activities that will help establish and enhance a long-lasting relationship with God, rest and fellowship in nature along with reading the Bible are common activities on the Sabbath as well as other days. On Sabbath, as well as every other day, constant contact with God is kept. Adventists talk to him like a friend, we serve a wonderful God who wants to be our friend, He is a loving, caring God who wants us to feel loved and protected by

Wisdom Distilled from the daily: Living the Rule of St. Benedict Today by Joan Chittister writes a chapter than includes the importance of taking time off. Chittister uses a candle to demonstrate the importance of taking time to regain your strength. She talks about how you need to take time for yourself so your inner flame can glow again and you can pass that onto others. This down time is important for self reflection and contemplation. This down time will allow me to reflect on what I have been through and further “let go” and be able to forgive God. Chittister says your candle has to be lit before you can light the candles of others. I really liked this concept and feel it is very present in my life. I feel called by God to help others

Christian beliefs of life are a sacred gift from God. For me personally, I do believe that life and all of its wonders is a gift given to us from God, and that all life should be respected. My belief as a Christian is that our lives are not our own, but God’s. He created us in His image and for a purpose, giving us a type of sacredness. As Christians, at least how I believe, we are suppose to want to give our lives up to God, and through His son Jesus Christ in us, to be a light to the world to show God’s love and grace to others. This action resembles a type of duty, or an obligation that is assigned to us by our Creator, making our very being sacred.

I used to think that I needed to set aside thirty minutes everyday just for me. That’s easy to do, right? But life gets in the

3. One thing I was not previously aware of is on page 111 when Bethke talks about how the Sabbath’s purpose is to fill the earth with God’s presence and to remind us that we are free. I never thought about how the Sabbath was God’s last day of creation, but it was Adam and Eve’s first day of life. It’s crazy how the first day they were alive was a day of peace and relaxation and filling. That means it is very important and should be a part of our normal lives. If their first day was relaxing, then it shows the importance of taking a day to rest and fill up with God. He’s showing us that we need to start our weeks out by spending time with Him and filling up ourselves with Him first instead of the busyness of life. And by taking that time away from the distractions of life,

It is a tradition for some people to go to church on Sunday to worship a certain deity; however, Emily speaks about how the Sabbath is celebrated with her. The Sabbath was known as the seventh day of the creation of the earth and on that day God rested. Emily represents herself as rested when she writes “I keep it staying home” (line 2). Emily tells her readers that the Sabbath should be a day to relax and not a day of hard working. On the other hand, there is another viewpoint on this certain quote that should be

Fortunately, I decided two weeks ago, that on June 20, 2016 I was going embark on a deeper level of praying, meditating, and fasting. On Monday’s I participate in a group prayer at 5:15am, so after I finished I was able to go into silence and solitude mode. Whenever there is a call for stillness, I must partake in it as early as possible. The earlier the better, because if I try to do any activities after 7a.m., it is unlikely that it will get accomplished, because my kids are like raging bulls that have been let out of the stable, and they need my undivided attention to secure their safety. The only challenge I ran into was since I started the “Draw the Circle 40-Day Prayer Challenge” today, my phone was buzzing with inquiries with people that wanted to join. Therefore, that was a slight distraction.

The Seventh Day: - By this day, everything was created and put into shape and order. And God rested on the seventh day and he glorified it as a day of rest. Therefore we should work for six days and rest on the Seventh day, Shabbat, which God blessed and sanctified for all time to come. By observing the Shabbat day, we show that we believe in God as the Creator of the world.

Practice Monday threw Friday from three o’clock to seven, and then eleven until two on Saturdays! As the Lord did, we got to rest on Sundays. It was

Therefore, the holy day of Sabbath is it is known for Jews and Christians, is absent in Islam. God was not weary from the act of creation, and oversaw all that he had created, rather. This could be seen as part of the belief in Islam that the Koran is a "correction" to the previous religions of Judaism and Christianity, and that the holy scriptures were somehow corrupted in their present form.

I entered into the worship service, unaware of what to expect. I was not familiar with this church, it was a non-denominational church, but the pastor had his roots in the A.M.E. Zion Church and branched out to establish his own church. I walked into the sanctuary prepared to participate in the Sunday School. I found a seat and readied myself to engage in some meaningful discussion. After sitting for several minutes, I asked one of the gentlemen who was standing at the front of the church if they had already started and where was the lesson coming from. He looked at his watch and indicated that he didn’t know if we had time for Sunday School. A puzzled look came over my face and I couldn’t help but express my confusion as I looked at

Within each church, spirituality is expressed in different traditions and is practiced in various ways. In identifying these traditions Richard Foster placed in six categories namely, contemplative, holiness, charismatic, social justice, evangelical and incarnation. Although these traditions are found to be central to our Christian faith each church has demonstrated a tendency to prefer the practice of one over another.