We've been talking about Sabbath lately — how we, as Christ-followers, are still called to Sabbath, but observing Sabbath isn't simply about following legalistic rules. Our community group brought up a challenge to think about what a day of rest and focus on God would look like for each of us. Ian and I had some good discussions and started by structuring our weekend with all of our chores and errands on Saturday — we felt very intentional. But when Sunday rolled around, we ended up watching Hulu all night because we had only been intentional about not working on Sunday, instead of making Sunday meaningful. So we tried again.
Sunday of Memorial Day weekend resulted in Sabbath growth for us. Ian played in the band at [REUNION], then we headed home to get ready for community group. Ian relaxed and I had the kitchen to myself. I methodically hulled and halved strawberries, mixed up batter for Smitten Kitchen's strawberry summer cake, and assembled, taking photographs along the way.
Once the cake was in the oven, Ian joined me and together we prepared empanadas and cucumber, tomato and feta salad from Bon Appetit magazine.
As we turned off the oven and the apartment started cooling down, our community group began to arrive. We had a great evening of fellowship and learning how to put our faith into practice.
We didn't observe Sabbath in the traditional sense. In fact all of the cooking (plus other electricity usage like lights and electronics) is in direct violation of Sabbath law. But I felt so purposeful. The baking and cooking was relaxing — a different kind of "work" than the rest of the week. Structured but creative. And all of it was about relationships — with others and with God.
We don't have it all figured out, but I think we're on the right track.
